BiciRace.com :: 2006 Tour Down Under

2006 Tour Down Under, Street Circuit

Tour Down Under, Australia

Street Circuit, Adelaide City Council Circuit, 50K

17 January

McEwen Wins Adelaide Street Fight

McEwen, a Street Fighting Man, photo: Davitamon-Lotto

Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) rocketed to victory in the opening circuit race of the Tour Down Under. The Aussie topped the podium ahead of two Italians, Daniele Colli (Liquigas) and Simone Cadamuro (Milram). All the teams were eager to score the first big win of the year, but it was the fast-snapping McEwen to put one on the boards for his Belgian Davitamon-Lotto squadra.

Aussies were out in thousands to see the euro guns fire down the streets of Adelaide. The opening city circuit of the Tour Down Under did not count for the overall race GC, but there was €8,000 up for grab. That amount, combined with warm weather, made the 2K circuit hotly contested.

Early on there were attempts at freedom by Vincent Jerome (Bouygues Telecom), followed by Steven Caethoven (Chocolade Jacques), which both came to nothing. Then the American squadra, Navigators, put in some powerful punches, but they too were limited by the small and fast circuit.

The course was designed for a fast bunch gallop. The sprintsters were all up in the mix, including young Aussie Allan Davis for Liberty. But it was the almost unrecognizable McEwen, without the national champion jersey, to come out on top of an Italian-Aussie mix. Davis came home with fifth, Mark Renshaw (Crédit Agricole) put in a solid sixth. Of note was the number of Liquigas riders, three, in the final top ten. An impressive result for the Italian squadra that could be a sign of wins to come over the following five stages.

Results: 1:01'06", 49.1 K/h
1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
2 Daniele Colli (Ita) Liquigas
3 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Milram
4 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
5 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth
6 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
7 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas
8 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas
9 Matthew Goss (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS
10 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance
11 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators
12 José Joaquín Rojas (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
13 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
14 Pierre Drancourt (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
15 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth
16 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Milram
17 Walter Bénéteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
18 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
19 Jens Renders (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen
20 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth

GC:
After Stage