After what has been a long drought for Orica GreenEdge since sprinter Matt Goss won the third stage of the 2012 Giro d’Italia, the Australian team have finally won another Grand Tour stage thanks to Simon Clarke’s incredible efforts in today’s stage.
Clarke, a 26 year old former track rider, was among the group of five riders that established the breakaway group at the beginning of the stage. The group was soon trimmed to two, with the Australian and German world time trial champion Tony Martin the only survivors.
The duo held strong, and after the all important 13.4km category 1 climb that took the riders to 1km from the finish, the pair held a 50 second advantage of the main group.
From then onwards it was a sprint to the line, with Clarke proving way too strong for Martin who, it must be said, is not suited to sprint finishes. However, in spite of this, Clarke’s stage win should not be disregarded, as his four and a half hour effort was simply outstanding.
On another note, last night’s stage certainly shook up the general classification. After going into stage four with an 18 second lead in the general classification, Alejandro Valverde had a horror stage finishing 36 seconds down overall on new race leader, Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez.
The cause of Valverde’s time loss was a big crash early in the stage, which caused 10 riders to tumble. Once Valverde recovered, he and his team mates worked to their limits to bridge the gap of the main peloton, however they were unsuccessful in this very difficult mission.
For now though, let’s focus on an Aussie stage win in a Grand Tour. Simon Clarke, a relatively unknown rider who has a strong background in track cycling, hasn’t achieved much on the road prior to this stage win. His previous best effort, a second placing in the Glava Tour of Norway, is incomparable to a stage win in a Grand Tour.
It truly was a great day for Australian cycling, and finally we Australians can celebrate a second Aussie Orica GreenEdge rider’s stage win in a Grand Tour.
Stage five tonight is a 168km ride around the streets of Logrono, where the riders will complete a 40km course on numerous occasions. It is a relatively flat stage, so expect the sprinters to shine.
Stage four ‘unsung hero’: Tony Martin. While the German didn’t grab the stage win, it was a superb performance by the time trial specialist to hold off the peloton for 168km without much help in a high mountain stage where the terrain does not suit him. Great effort, Tony Martin.
Stage results:
1.
CLARKE, S.
OGE
4:30:26
2.
MARTIN, T.
OPQ
a 2
3.
BAZAYEV, A.
AST
a 22
4.
GARCIA, M.
CJR
a 55
5.
ROCHE, N.
ALM
a 55
6.
GERDEMANN, L.
RNT
a 57
7.
TEN DAM, L.
RAB
a 57
8.
ZEITS, A.
AST
a 1:01
9.
MOLLEMA, B.
RAB
a 1:04
10.
BAKELANTS, J.
RNT
a 1:04
General classification:
1.
RODRIGUEZ, J.
KAT
13:18:45
2.
FROOME, C.
SKY
a 1
3.
CONTADOR, A.
STB
a 5
4.
MOLLEMA, B.
RAB
a 9
5.
GESINK, R.
RAB
a 9
6.
URAN, R.
SKY
a 11
7.
MORENO, D.
KAT
a 14
8.
ROCHE, N.
ALM
a 24
9.
VALVERDE, A.
MOV
a 36
10.
TEN DAM, L.
RAB
a 46
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