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A storming finish from Andre Greipel was enough to win the third stage of the 2012 Tour Down Under, with the Lotto-Belisol rider doing enough to reclaim the overall lead from Martin Kohler.
The German rider, who had already tasted victory at Sunday’s Down Under Classic and Tuesday’s opening stage, managed to once again do just enough to win the stage in a bunched finish, with Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) finishing in the minor placings.
Like the two preceding stages, Thursday’s 134.5km stage from Unley was punctuated by an early breakaway, with a three-man group pushing out in the opening 5km of the stage and Irish rider Matthew Brammeier joining soon afterwards.
Vaconsoleil-DCM rider Thomas De Gendt made the most of the breakaway, claiming maximum points for the climb up Sellicks Hill to take the polka-dot jersey for the King of the Mountains classification while also picking up time bonuses for the two intermediate sprints of the stage.
The peloton had yesterday been accused of complacency after failing to reel in Will Clarke and they were determined not to let a repeat occur on stage three.
GreenEDGE, Rabobank and Greipel’s Lotto-Belisol worked steadily to bring whittle away the five-minute, fifteen-second lead that the breakaway had forged and following the second intermediate sprint Goolwa, had brought all four riders back to the bunch with 43km to go.
Strong crosswinds contributed to a frenetic final 10km of the stage and after his Lotto-Belisol team had worked hard to give him position, Greipel once again was able to power his way to the finish line ahead of his rivals.
Greipel, who was quick to pay tribute to hospitalised teammate Jurgen Roelandt, now holds an eight-second advantage over Martin Kohler, with Michael Matthews the highest-placed Australian a further four seconds behind in third.
Saturday’s Willunga stage features a hilltop finish and is highly incompatible with Greipel’s sprinting capabilities and it is unlikely that the German will have enough to claim his third Tour Down Under win.
Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen and GreenEDGE rider Simon Gerrans loom as two of the top picks expected to top the podium on Sunday afternoon.
Friday’s 130km fourth stage is from Norwood, in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs, through to Tandunda in the Barossa Valley.
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