2012 Tour Down Under Stage 4: Norwood → Tanunda, 130km, 2.WT

[Sasquatch]

Guess he isn't one of the best in an uphill sprint yet

Oscar Freire showing his talent. Actually, don't know if it was an uphill sprint, but looks like it by looking at the top 5.

It wasn't an uphill sprint. It was the same finish that Greipel won on a few years ago on the opening stage.

 

[El Pistolero]

It wasn't an uphill sprint. It was the same finish that Greipel won on a few years ago on the opening stage.

Ah, how come he got dropped by more than 6 minutes today?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Ah, how come he got dropped by more than 6 minutes now?

Menglers Hill.

 

[PCutter]

SMH has Kohler 2s ahead of Matthews on GC...but not much else to add

And for a boring sprinters race, the TdU has had a couple of good stages this year (please note I did not use the word epic, just good).

 

[BillytheKid]

twenty.....houeers...lateer...

 

[Richeypen]

EBH up there in the sprint

 

[wirral]

Full results up on UCI website. EBH 4th.

 

[El Pistolero]

EBH up there in the sprint

Seems like Valverde lost speed. Could be a combination of him having lost weight and his long inactivity.

 

[Richeypen]

1 Oscar FREIRE GOMEZ ESP KAT 36 3:08:34
2 Gerald CIOLEK GER OPQ 26 +0
3 Daniele BENNATI ITA RSH 32 +0
4 Edvald BOASSON HAGEN NOR SKY 25 +0
5 Michael MATTHEWS AUS RAB 22 +0
6 Jose Joaquin ROJAS GIL ESP MOV 27 +0
7 Luke ROBERTS AUS SAX 35 +0
8 Kristijan KOREN SLO LIQ 26 +0
9 Sergey LAGUTIN UZB VCD 31 +0
10 Heinrich HAUSSLER AUS GRM 28 +0
11 Jérémy ROY FRA FDJ 29 +0
12 Javier MORENO BAZAN ESP MOV 28 +0
13 Serge PAUWELS BEL OPQ 29 +0
14 Vicente REYNES MIMO ESP LTB 31 +0
15 José Ivan GUTIERREZ PALACIOS ESP MOV 34 +0
16 Maxim BELKOV RUS KAT 27 +0
17 Simon GERRANS AUS GEC 32 +0
18 Bernard SULZBERGER AUS AUS 29 +0
19 Geraint THOMAS GBR SKY 26 +0
20 Greg VAN AVERMAET BEL BMC 27 +0

 

[auscyclefan94]

GC after Stage 4: Kohler 15:03:34; Matthews 0:02, Freire, Ciolek 0:06, Gerrans 0:08, Bennati, EBH, Bakelants, Vorganov, Dennis 0:09

 

[PCutter]

Seems like Valverde lost speed. Could be a combination of him having lost weight and his long inactivity.

And blood!!

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

1 Oscar FREIRE GOMEZ ESP KAT 36 3:08:34
2 Gerald CIOLEK GER OPQ 26 +0
3 Daniele BENNATI ITA RSH 32 +0
4 Edvald BOASSON HAGEN NOR SKY 25 +0
5 Michael MATTHEWS AUS RAB 22 +0
6 Jose Joaquin ROJAS GIL ESP MOV 27 +0
7 Luke ROBERTS AUS SAX 35 +0
8 Kristijan KOREN SLO LIQ 26 +0
9 Sergey LAGUTIN UZB VCD 31 +0
10 Heinrich HAUSSLER AUS GRM 28 +0
11 Jérémy ROY FRA FDJ 29 +0
12 Javier MORENO BAZAN ESP MOV 28 +0
13 Serge PAUWELS BEL OPQ 29 +0
14 Vicente REYNES MIMO ESP LTB 31 +0
15 José Ivan GUTIERREZ PALACIOS ESP MOV 34 +0
16 Maxim BELKOV RUS KAT 27 +0
17 Simon GERRANS AUS GEC 32 +0
18 Bernard SULZBERGER AUS AUS 29 +0
19 Geraint THOMAS GBR SKY 26 +0
20 Greg VAN AVERMAET BEL BMC 27 +0

uhhf.. ebh just outside bonus seconds.

 

[Woody22]

Gerrans is going to win this.

Will be a great start for GreenEdge.

I think he will win the stage tomorrow as well.

 

[stefrees]

Gerrans is going to win this.

Will be a great start for GreenEdge.

I think he will win the stage tomorrow as well.

Well if he doesn't win the stage tomorrow, he prob won't win overall

 

[auscyclefan94]

I doubt Gerrans will win this for two reasons. There are better climbers in this race than him and secondly he is going to need time bonuses to take the overall therefore he will need to finish first.

 

[Ferminal]

There are too many climbers who "could" win tomorrow so it's difficult to call. EBH/Gerrans/Valverde would be favoured, but there are 20 or so names in with a chance.

 

[BillytheKid]

I imagine bigger time gaps tomorrow than expected. It will be much much different with the finish at the top than in the past.

 

[wirral]

Did Mathias Frank deliberately chuck some time today?

 

[PCutter]

There are too many climbers who "could" win tomorrow so it's difficult to call. EBH/Gerrans/Valverde would be favoured, but there are 20 or so names in with a chance.

All setting up for a great smash fest on that last couple of kms uphill tomorrow, lots of climbers high on GC who'll think if I can get away....

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

1 Oscar FREIRE GOMEZ ESP KAT 36 3:08:34
2 Gerald CIOLEK GER OPQ 26 +0
3 Daniele BENNATI ITA RSH 32 +0
4 Edvald BOASSON HAGEN NOR SKY 25 +0
5 Michael MATTHEWS AUS RAB 22 +0
.

I was thinking/hoping Freire would/could get a win during this TDU.

 

[theyoungest]

I haven't seen the stage but... how on earth did De Gendt manage to lose time today?

Oscarito, still a miracle on two wheels. "I haven't trained much, just at team camp in December, I don't feel so great". Boom, two days later he wins.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

I haven't seen the stage but... how on earth did De Gendt manage to lose time today?

Oscarito, still a miracle on two wheels. "I haven't trained much, just at team camp in December, I don't feel so great". Boom, two days later he wins.

The group won't be buying that line for a while now will they.

 

[theyoungest]

The group won't be buying that line for a while now will they.

No, they probably will, because they know him. No pro cyclist needs as little training as Freire.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

No, they probably will, because they know him. No pro cyclist needs as little training as Freire.

you havum good point there Kemosabe

 

[badboyberty]

Did the Challenge Tour ride today. After Menglers it was a really fast run in. I was having cramping issues due to not have ridden more than 90kms since my 14month old was born and was still moving along at 40km+. Nice tailwind and pretty much all flat or downhill for the last twenty. IMHO Menglers is a little easier a climb than Willunga, max gradients didn't feel quite as steep and today the wind was pushing straight up the hill, something I've heard of on Willunga but rarely personally experienced.

So good to see Friere win. We kept hearing the loudspeaker saying about 40 person break and kept assuming they were actually saying 14.

I was pretty impressed with Radioshack-Leopard-Nissan-Trek-But-Definitely-Not-Mercedes actually, most of their team seemed to make the selection, saw at least 5 riders in the front group.

Stage was good, rolling the whole way with some fun descents.Whoever designed this years race route has done a good job.