Tour Down Under Stage 3- Rohan Dennis Wins

2014_August_Prendas_Bannerr4

Rohan Dennis has snatched the race lead with a convincing kick on the uphill finish into Paracombe on Thomas Foods Stage 3 of the Santos Tour Down Under.

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Tour Down Under Stage 3- Rohan Dennis Wins

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Rohan Dennis has snatched the race lead with a convincing kick on the uphill finish into Paracombe on Thomas Foods Stage 3 of the Santos Tour Down Under. Close behind the 24 year old was his BMC Racing team mate and compatriot Cadel Evans with Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) in third place.

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Rohan Dennis from BMC Racing wins Thomas Foods Stage 3 from Norwood to Paracombe.  Photo – Regallo 

“To be honest, I didn’t expect to win,” said Dennis of his stage victory. “The plan was for me to attack halfway into the climb but I was too far back to follow the plan. “I have the ochre (leader’s) jersey now but Cadel and I are still both protected,” he explained. “There’s still Willunga (Stage 5) and a lot of racing to come.”

The Santos Tour Down Under will be the final World Tour event for Evans who retires from racing next month. He is now sitting second overall, seven seconds behind Dennis and in prime position to end his 20 year cycling career with a victory.

“We had a plan, covering two bases, but I want to lend a favour to my teammates when I can, so we wanted to give Rohan (Dennis) and Peter (Stetina) the chance to make an attack anywhere they could,” said Evans. “That move really worked for us, and I am sure Rohan is going to be pretty happy”.

“We want to stay where we are. It’s not easy, there is a lot of racing still to go,” Evans said. “Today narrows down who we have to watch.”

Today’s racing was expected to shake up the rankings and it did just that with the short, steep Torrens Hill Road ascent giving the climbers a chance to unleash on the final climb at the end of the 143 kilometre stage that began in the inner-city suburb of Norwood and headed out through the Adelaide Hills orchards and vineyards to Paracombe.

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Danish rider Lasse Hansen from Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling leads Drapac rider William Clarke (AUS) in the breakaway.Photo credit – Regallo
3stage11- Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) feels the heat. Photo Regallo

The hot, windy conditions didn’t deter the fans with 108 thousand coming out to watch the show. In similar fashion to the previous two stages a small group rode clear early sparked by an attack from Australian Will Clarke (Drapac). Chasing after and joining him in front was fellow Australian Calvin Watson (Trek Racing), Denmark’s Lasse Norman Hansen (Cannondale-Garmin) and French rider Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale).

The quartet stretched their lead to around three minutes and contested the first two of the three iiNet intermediate sprints at Charleston. Clarke was first at the 67 kilometre sprint ahead of Hansen and Domont and it was the same result 26 kilometres later. But before they reached the third sprint at the 118 kilometre mark Domont found the going in front too hot to handle and dropped back.

The third iiNet Sprint was won by Clarke ahead of Hansen with Watson third. As the leaders passed by the 20 kilometre to go sign the peloton was fast closing the gap and Hansen soon called quits on the attack. Watson joined him soon after leaving only the instigator of the break, Clarke, alone in front.

But those in the know wanted to be in front when the race turned hard right from Gorge Road onto the climb and Clarke’s efforts to hold his lead were in vain. Just under nine kilometres to go he was swallowed by the bunch but his efforts earned him the daily award of Europcar Most Competitive Rider.

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Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) Richie Porte (Team Sky) and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) battle for position on the climb to Paracombe. Photo Regallo  

“This morning it was either me or (team mate) Travis Meyer who’d go away,” said Clarke. “He got pulled back after I tried first so it was my turn. “Being out there I thought I had to go for the sprints,” he said. “The first one wasn’t difficult but the second one was. Lasse Hansen jumped a bit… He’s an Olympic gold medallist for omnium so it was a surprise that I got him in the sprints!”

“Towards the end the other guys were a bit tired so I tried to go away again But I had no illusions,” said Clarke. Once he was captured the jostling for position intensified and not everything went to plan even for the winner.

“I was caught further back but I rode with no stress as Cadel was away with Richie (Porte – Team Sky)…..,” said Dennis. “I stayed behind a Movistar rider hoping that he’d bring me back to the front.

“Thumbs up to Cadel,” said Dennis. “He’s a man of little words but we’ve done well together today.” Dennis took over the race lead from fellow Olympic track silver medallist and South Australian Jack Bobridge (UniSA-Australia) who was 40 seconds back in 29th place. Behind Dennis and Evans on the overall rankings is Dumoulin at nine seconds with Porte heading six riders who are all sitting at 15 seconds off the lead.

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Australian Rohan Dennis from BMC Racing on the podium in the  Santos Ochre Leaders Jersey after taking over the lead of the Santos Tour Down Under. Photo Regallo  

Dennis was also first over the only Subaru King of the Mountain contest today which was 400 metres from the finish line. He went over the summit first picking up the maximum points for the Category 1 climb ahead of Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale) and Evans.

That moved him to the top of the climber’s contest and he is also the leader in the Cycle Instead Best Young Rider classification. Evans now leads the iiNet Sprint competition due to his accumulated points for stage finishes over the past three days and BMC is the Virgin Australia leading team.

Tomorrow’s Bupa Stage 4 will see thousands of recreational cyclists in the Bupa Challenge Tour pave the way for the pros who will they race from beachside Glenelg to the city of Mount Barker, a distance of 145 kilometres.

STAGE 3
1 DENNIS Rohan BMC 03:35:08
2 EVANS Cadel BMC 3
3 DUMOULIN Tom TGA @ st
4 BOUET Maxime EQS 5
5 ROGERS Michael TCS @ st
6 PORTE Richie SKY @ st
7 HAIG Jack AUS @ st
8 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV @ st
9 POZZOVIVO Domenico ALM @ st
10 GESCHKE Simon TGA 13
11 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon AST 15
12 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAM @ st
13 MACHADO Tiago KAT @ st
14 PANTANO GOMEZ Jarlison IAM 18
15 BENNETT George TLJ @ st
16 BERARD Julien ALM @ st
17 IMPEY Daryl OGE @ st
18 HANSEN Adam LTS 21
19 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka MOV @ st
20 HAAS Nathan TCG @ st
21 BAK Lars Ytting LTS @ st
22 CAPECCHI Eros MOV @ st
23 STETINA Peter BMC @ st
24 MORI Manuele LAM 27
25 HERRADA LOPEZ José MOV 35
26 ZAUGG Oliver TCS 42
27 HANSEN Jesper TCS @ st
28 WESTRA Lieuwe AST @ st
29 BOBRIDGE Jack AUS @ st
30 JEANNESSON Arnold FDJ @ st
31 DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO David EQS @ st
32 DIDIER Laurent TFR @ st
33 LAGUTIN Sergei KAT @ st
34 TANNER David IAM @ st
35 ROY Jérémy FDJ @ st
36 VILLELLA Davide TCG @ st
37 HESJEDAL Ryder TCG 50
38 MCCONNELL Daniel TFR @ st
39 VELITS Martin EQS @ st
40 MALACARNE Davide AST @ st
41 POWER Robert AUS @ st
42 LINDEMAN Bertjan TLJ @ st
43 SERRY Pieter EQS 01:10
44 DOCKX Gert LTS 01:14
45 JUUL JENSEN Christopher TCS @ st
46 CLARKE Simon OGE @ st
47 MEYER Cameron OGE @ st
48 DUMOULIN Samuel ALM @ st
49 TCATEVICH Aleksei KAT 01:24
50 MOSER Moreno TCG 01:28
51 THOMAS Geraint SKY @ st
52 REYNES MIMO Vicente IAM @ st
53 SCHÄR Michael BMC 01:59
54 ELMIGER Martin IAM @ st
55 ROOSEN Timo TLJ @ st
56 KERBY Jordan DPC @ st
57 HENDERSON Greg LTS @ st
58 LE GAC Olivier FDJ @ st
59 CARUSO Giampaolo KAT @ st
60 DURASEK Kristijan LAM @ st
61 DE GENDT Thomas LTS @ st
62 TLEUBAYEV Ruslan AST @ st
63 BELKOV Maxim KAT @ st
64 LASTRAS GARCIA Pablo MOV @ st
65 CLEMENT Stef IAM 02:09
66 ROULSTON Hayden TFR @ st
67 DILLIER Silvan BMC @ st
68 KADRI Blel ALM 02:28
69 MEYER Travis DPC 02:32
70 SCOTSON Miles AUS @ st
71 BOARO Manuele TCS 02:37
72 PINEAU Cédric FDJ 02:53
73 CHAVANEL Sébastien FDJ @ st
74 MEERSMAN Gianni EQS @ st
75 BRUTT Pavel TCS 03:12
76 HAYMAN Mathew OGE @ st
77 VON HOFF Steele AUS 03:14
78 EDMONDSON Alexander AUS @ st
79 WYSS Danilo BMC @ st
80 DURBRIDGE Luke OGE @ st
81 ROE Timothy DPC @ st
82 KEIZER Martijn TLJ @ st
83 BEWLEY Sam OGE 03:26
84 RENSHAW Mark EQS 03:31
85 ALAFACI Eugenio TFR @ st
86 HAUSSLER Heinrich IAM @ st
87 KOHLER Martin DPC @ st
88 ISAYCHEV Vladimir KAT @ st
89 TJALLINGII Maarten TLJ 03:35
90 LAMPAERT Yves EQS @ st
91 MARKUS Barry TLJ @ st
92 STANNARD Ian SKY @ st
93 HAGA Chad TGA @ st
94 HEPBURN Michael OGE @ st
95 HOWES Alex TCG @ st
96 DE KORT Koen TGA 03:54
97 DE HAES Kenny LTS @ st
98 BOOM Lars AST 03:59
99 DE VREESE Laurens AST 04:34
100 VEIKKANEN Jussi FDJ @ st
101 KLUGE Roger IAM @ st
102 BAUER Jack TCG @ st
103 CATALDO Dario AST @ st
104 KENNAUGH Peter SKY 04:37
105 FLENS Rick TLJ 04:42
106 ROWE Luke SKY 05:01
107 BONO Matteo LAM 05:18
108 BONIFAZIO Niccolo LAM @ st
109 SELIG Rudiger KAT 05:48
110 CRADDOCK Lawson TGA @ st
111 WATSON Calvin TFR 06:12
112 CIMOLAI Davide LAM 07:12
113 FERRARI Roberto LAM @ st
114 CLARKE William DPC 07:37
115 TIMMER Albert TGA @ st
116 RIBLON Christophe ALM 07:52
117 GOUGEARD Alexis ALM @ st
118 BROWN Graeme DPC @ st
119 VALLEE Boris LTS 08:35
120 KITTEL Marcel TGA @ st
121 VAN DER PLOEG Neil AUS @ st
122 MANZIN Lorrenzo FDJ 08:42
123 HANSEN Lasse Norman TCG 11:35
124 PUCCIO Salvatore SKY @ st
125 WIPPERT Wouter DPC @ st
126 NIZZOLO Giacomo TFR @ st
127 SUTTON Christopher SKY @ st
128 SANZ Enrique MOV @ st
129 COLEDAN Marco TFR @ st
130 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose MOV @ st
131 DOMONT Axel ALM @ st

OVERALL AFTER STAGE 3
1 DENNIS Rohan BMC 10:17:06
2 EVANS Cadel BMC 7
3 DUMOULIN Tom TGA 9
4 PORTE Richie SKY 15
5 HAIG Jack AUS @ st
6 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV @ st
7 ROGERS Michael TCS @ st
8 BOUET Maxime EQS @ st
9 POZZOVIVO Domenico ALM @ st
10 IMPEY Daryl OGE 22
11 GESCHKE Simon TGA 23
12 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon AST 25
13 MACHADO Tiago KAT @ st
14 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam LAM @ st
15 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka MOV 27
16 BENNETT George TLJ 28
17 BERARD Julien ALM @ st
18 PANTANO GOMEZ Jarlison IAM @ st
19 HAAS Nathan TCG 31
20 HANSEN Adam LTS @ st
21 CAPECCHI Eros MOV @ st
22 STETINA Peter BMC @ st
23 BAK Lars Ytting LTS @ st
24 MORI Manuele LAM 37
25 BOBRIDGE Jack AUS 39
26 WESTRA Lieuwe AST 43
27 HERRADA LOPEZ José MOV 45
28 TANNER David IAM 52
29 LAGUTIN Sergei KAT @ st
30 JEANNESSON Arnold FDJ @ st
31 HANSEN Jesper TCS @ st
32 ROY Jérémy FDJ @ st
33 LINDEMAN Bertjan TLJ 01:00
34 MCCONNELL Daniel TFR @ st
35 DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO David EQS 01:17
36 DUMOULIN Samuel ALM 01:24
37 CLARKE Simon OGE @ st
38 JUUL JENSEN Christopher TCS @ st
39 POWER Robert AUS 01:25
40 VILLELLA Davide TCG 01:26
41 TCATEVICH Aleksei KAT 01:34
42 HESJEDAL Ryder TCG @ st
43 THOMAS Geraint SKY 01:38
44 MOSER Moreno TCG @ st
45 VELITS Martin EQS 01:52
46 ZAUGG Oliver TCS 01:59
47 DIDIER Laurent TFR @ st
48 REYNES MIMO Vicente IAM 02:06
49 MEYER Cameron OGE 02:09
50 DURASEK Kristijan LAM @ st
51 MALACARNE Davide AST 02:33
52 LASTRAS GARCIA Pablo MOV 02:41
53 MEYER Travis DPC 02:42
54 ROULSTON Hayden TFR 02:51
55 ELMIGER Martin IAM 02:58
56 MEERSMAN Gianni EQS 03:03
57 DOCKX Gert LTS 03:05
58 CARUSO Giampaolo KAT 03:06
59 ROE Timothy DPC 03:24
60 HAUSSLER Heinrich IAM 03:41
61 BELKOV Maxim KAT 03:42
62 SCHÄR Michael BMC @ st
63 ROOSEN Timo TLJ 03:45
64 LE GAC Olivier FDJ @ st
65 KADRI Blel ALM @ st
66 DURBRIDGE Luke OGE 03:51
67 CLEMENT Stef IAM 03:52
68 HAYMAN Mathew OGE 04:08
69 PINEAU Cédric FDJ 04:10
70 WYSS Danilo BMC 04:31
71 VEIKKANEN Jussi FDJ 04:44
72 CHAVANEL Sébastien FDJ 04:52
73 KEIZER Martijn TLJ 05:00
74 HAGA Chad TGA 05:06
75 STANNARD Ian SKY 05:11
76 SERRY Pieter EQS 05:12
77 BOOM Lars AST 05:16
78 CATALDO Dario AST 05:18
79 BONIFAZIO Niccolo LAM 05:28
80 DILLIER Silvan BMC 05:35
81 HOWES Alex TCG 05:54
82 KENNAUGH Peter SKY @ st
83 DE KORT Koen TGA 06:10
84 TLEUBAYEV Ruslan AST 06:55
85 BOARO Manuele TCS 06:57
86 BAUER Jack TCG 06:58
87 VON HOFF Steele AUS 07:34
88 DE VREESE Laurens AST 07:44
89 ISAYCHEV Vladimir KAT 07:51
90 HENDERSON Greg LTS 07:57
91 LAMPAERT Yves EQS 08:14
92 CLARKE William DPC 08:29
93 EDMONDSON Alexander AUS 09:12
94 BEWLEY Sam OGE 09:24
95 ALAFACI Eugenio TFR 09:29
96 RENSHAW Mark EQS 09:46
97 KLUGE Roger IAM 10:32
98 FLENS Rick TLJ 10:40
99 BRUTT Pavel TCS 11:18
100 CIMOLAI Davide LAM 11:32
101 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose MOV 11:35
102 TIMMER Albert TGA 11:44
103 BONO Matteo LAM 12:02
104 WATSON Calvin TFR 12:09
105 HANSEN Lasse Norman TCG 12:31
106 KOHLER Martin DPC 13:31
107 VAN DER PLOEG Neil AUS 14:33
108 ROWE Luke SKY 15:01
109 HEPBURN Michael OGE 15:13
110 BROWN Graeme DPC 15:18
111 DE GENDT Thomas LTS 15:46
112 SCOTSON Miles AUS 16:25
113 DE HAES Kenny LTS 18:12
114 TJALLINGII Maarten TLJ @ st
115 PUCCIO Salvatore SKY 18:51
116 MANZIN Lorrenzo FDJ 19:04
117 SELIG Rudiger KAT 20:01
118 RIBLON Christophe ALM @ st
119 CRADDOCK Lawson TGA 20:58
120 KERBY Jordan DPC 22:03
121 KITTEL Marcel TGA 22:28
122 COLEDAN Marco TFR 23:24
123 FERRARI Roberto LAM 23:32
124 MARKUS Barry TLJ 23:33
125 DOMONT Axel ALM 25:26:00
126 SUTTON Christopher SKY 25:28:00
127 SANZ Enrique MOV 25:45:00
128 GOUGEARD Alexis ALM 27:56:00
129 VALLEE Boris LTS 28:39:00
130 WIPPERT Wouter DPC 31:21:00
131 NIZZOLO Giacomo TFR 31:39:00

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