He’s been trying to mimic the buildup and results of his superb early season in 2012, when he won the Australian road championships, the Santos Tour Down Under and then Milan-Sanremo. Simon Gerrans remains on track thus far, today netting the opening stage of the Australian WorldTour race clad in the white, gold and green national champs jersey he won earlier this month.
The Orica GreenEdge rider took advantage of the Menglers Hill climb with twelve kilometres to go, with that ascent putting many of the race’s sprinters out of the back, and also profited of the slightly uphill drag to the line. He remained tight on Andre Greipel’s wheel when the multiple stage winner drove for the line, then nipped past him inside the final 100 metres to grab the stage.
Garmin-Sharp rider Steele Von Hoff took third out of the 69 riders in the front group, notching up his first result of the year.
“The guys worked really well for me today,” said a pleased Gerrans afterwards. “Everybody knew what their roles were throughout the stage and it’s really nice to finish it off when everyone has done their job perfectly. Durbo did a fantastic job riding the front, Matty Hayman looked after me the entire stage and then having Bling [Michael Matthews], Daryl and Clarkey there to take me into the final 200 metres was brilliant. My win today was just finishing off some fantastic teamwork…I’m really pleased.”
Gerrans knew that Menglers Hill would thin things out, but was unsure if he could win once he realised that the big German had made it over the top.
“I didn’t imagine I’d be able to come past Greipel until the very end,” he admitted. “But in the final two kilometres all of the Lotto guys were looking tired and had been working hard. I thought maybe Greipel wouldn’t be able to do his normal sprint.
“So I took his wheel in the sprint, and it was only in the last 100 metres that I felt confident I would be able to come past him.”
Will Clarke (Drapac) and Neil van der Ploeg (UniSA) attacked very early on and opened a lead of over three and a half minutes. Clarke won the first intermediate sprint at Bethany, 26.1 kilometres in, while Simon Geschke (Giant-Shimano) jumped out of the peloton to take third.
Over forty kilometres later the break reached Bethany again and in the second intermediate sprint, van der Ploeg got his revenge, beating Clarke.
Behind, an important sprint was playing out. Gerrans kicked hard and picked up the bonus second for third, thus ensuring that he had a small buffer over his rivals.
“Two years ago, we won on a count-back here,” said the Orica GreenEdge directeur sportif Matt White afterwards. “So seconds matter, and even those little time bonuses make a big difference to the overall at the end of the week. So if we take time bonuses when we can, it all adds up…we’re obviously off to a great start already.”
Clarke and van der Ploeg continued to try to stay clear but the latter was dropped and slipped back to the bunch. Clarke too succumbed several kilometres later, with the field coming back together before the climb of Menglers Hill.
“The team’s plan was to have one of us in the breakaway,” Clarke later explained. “The first attempt worked, which is not really that common. It was nice to be up there. But they worked pretty well together in the peloton. They never let us go far. I was hoping for a lead of six or seven minutes but we didn’t even reach four minutes.
“Possibly some teams remembered that I won in Stirling two years ago surviving such a breakaway.”
As expected, the pace was high heading into the climb, with Team Sky trying to control things. Garmin-Sharp’s Nathan Hass ramped up the speed with a jump, then Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) put in a surge to take the prime ahead of Axel Domont (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing), Robert Gesink (Belkin) and Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo).
“Garmin-Sharp and Sky were pulling in the climb but I was in a very good position, so I decided to have a go and see what happened,” Hansen explained. “It’s a nice jersey to have but I don’t think I’ll fight to defend it. Our main goal remains to win a stage and I’ll work for that as a priority.”
Europcar duo Yukiya Arashiro and Bjorn Thurau then had a go, riding hard to try to fend off the chasing group behind. They were unsuccessful in that aim, as was a later surge by the Australian Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo).
Greipel’s Lotto Belisol team then tried to set the German up for the stage win, but he was passed very close to the line and had to make do with the runner-up slot.
“It was a perfect finish for Gerro [Gerrans] today,” he admitted. “The gearing was just too hard for me today.
“It wasn't a bunch sprint…it was very hard today, and I am no climber. I tried to go up as fast as possible, so it's a good sign that the condition is there but the headwind played against us today.”
Steele Von Hoff would have loved to take the stage win, particularly as his Garmin-Sharp team-mate Phil Gaimon won in the Tour de San Luis, but it was not to be. He had to accept third, and said he was relatively satisfied with that.
“We had really good teamwork today. They rode for me all day. The sprint was very hard. I didn't quite have the legs to come around Gerro [ Gerrans].
“The legs are going well, so we're hoping for a good week. Third is not bad. It shows I'm in good condition.”
White said that Gerrans’ win might have surprised some, but that he felt it was not unexpected. “Most people wouldn’t bet on Gerro taking out Greipel in a sprint, but it was a hard run in to the line,” he reasoned. “It was quite deceptive and a real grind of a sprint. Gerro got there fresher than Andre, and he was dropped off very, very well by Impey and Matthews. If the right circumstances come about, Simon is very hard to beat.”
When the bonuses were totted up, Gerrans ended the day five seconds clear of Greipel and a further two ahead of von Hoff. He knows he will have a battle to defend ochre, particularly with some flatter stages ahead before Saturday’s race to the top of Old Willunga Hill.
“Taking the jersey so early on has put a heck of a lot of pressure on the whole team here,” he accepted. “Already leading in to the race everyone knew that we were really keen to win here.
“I’m obviously coming off the back of the Australian championships in good shape, and now I’ve probably just confirmed that for everybody. So we’ve got a big task in front of us to defend the jersey from here on.”
The race continues tomorrow with a 150 kilometre leg from Prospect to Stirling.
Santos Tour Down Under, Australia (WorldTour)
Stage 1, Nuriootpa to Angaston:
1, Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) 135 kilometres in 3 hours 20 mins 34 secs
2, Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol)
3, Steele von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp)
4, Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida)
5, Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
6, Francesco Gavazzi (Astana)
7, Simon Geschke (Giant-Shimano)
8, Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida)
9, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team)
10, Robert Gesink (Belkin)
11, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)
12, Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol)
13, Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) at 4 secs
14, Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge)
15, Carlos Verona (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
16, Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo)
17, Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team)
18, Frank Schleck (Trek Factory Racing)
19, Ruben Plaza (Movistar)
20, Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
21, George Bennett (Cannondale)
22, Angelo Tulik (Europcar)
23, Valerio Agnoli (Astana)
24, Wesley Sulzberger (Drapac)
25, Darren Lapthorne (Drapac)
26, Philip Deignan (Team Sky)
27, Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge)
28, Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team)
29, Richie Porte (Team Sky)
30, Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing)
31, Kenny Elissonde (FDJ)
32, Christpher Juul Jensen (Tinkoff-Saxo)
33, Lieuwe Westra (Astana)
34, Cameron Wurf (Cannondale)
35, Bernard Sulzberger (Drapac)
36, Luca Wackermann (Lampre-Merida)
37, Amael Moinard (BMC Racing Team)
38, Steve Morabito (BMC Racing Team)
39, Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar)
40, Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory)
41, Axel Domont (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
42, Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
43, Robbie Hucker (Drapac)
44, Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
45, Anthony Giacoppo (UniSA)
46, Stig Broeckx (Lotto-Belisol)
47, Rick Zabel (BMC Racing Team)
48, Mark O'Brien (UniSA)
49, Julien Berard (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
50, Caleb Fairly (Garmin-Sharp)
51, Jens Debusschere (Lotto-Belisol)
52, Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge)
53, Eduard Vorganov (Katusha)
54, Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (FDJ)
55, Anthony Roux (FDJ)
56, Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team)
57, Bjorn Hurau (Europcar)
58, Andriy Grivko (Astana)
59, Egor Silin (Katusha)
60, Jack Haig (UniSA)
61, Marcel Sieberg (Lotto-Belisol)
62, Nathan Earle (Team Sky)
63, Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp)
64, Lachlan Morton (Garmin-Sharp)
65, Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing)
66, Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol)
67, Yukiya Arashiro (Astana)
68, Javier Moreno (Movistar)
69, Jose Joaquin Rojas (FDJ)
70, Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac) at 2 mins 21 secs
71, Travis Meyer (Drapac)
72, Matejv Mohoric (Cannondale)
73, Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida)
74, Thierry Hupond (Giant-Shimano)
75, Pavel Kochetkov (Katusha)
76, Mark Renshaw (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
77, Jussi Veikkanen (FDJ)
78, Boy Van Poppel (Trek Factory)
79, Sébastien Turgot (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
80, Nikias Arndt (Giant-Shimano)
81, William Bonnet (FDJ)
82, Maxim Belkov (Katusha)
83, Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ)
84, Elia Viviani (Cannondale)
85, Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
86, Andrew Fenn (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
87, Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale)
88, Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
89, Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp)
90, Arnaud Courteille (FDJ)
91, Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Sharp)
92, Nicki Sorensen (Tinkoff-Saxo)
93, Kevin Reza (Europcar)
94, Ian Stannard (Team Sky)
95, Caleb Ewan (UniSA)
96, Michael Kolar (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 3 mins 53 secs
97, Nicolay Trusov (Tinkoff-Saxo)
98, Fabio Felline (Trek Factory Racing)
99, Koen De Kort (Giant-Shimano)
100, Stef Clement (Belkin 3 mins 57 secs
101, Jack Bobridge (Belkin)
102, Bradley Linfield (UniSA)
103, Jérome Cousin (Europcar)
104, Ivan Jose Gutierrez (Movistar)
105, Calvin Watson (Trek Factory Racing)
106, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha)
107, Matthias Krizek (Cannondale)
108, Imanol Erviti (Movistar)
109, Johannes Fröhlinger (Giant-Shimano)
110, Aleksandr Porsev (Katusha)
111, Evan Huffman (Astana)
112, Bram Tankink (Belkin)
113, Michael Andersen (Tinkoff-Saxo)
114, Enrico Gasparotto (Astana)
115, Marco Haller (Katusha)
116, Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana) at 5 mins 53 secs
117, José Juan Lobato (Movistar) at 6 mins 55 secs
118, Mathew Hayman (Orica-GreenEdge) at 8 mins 8 secs
119, Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge)
120, Bernard Eisel (Team Sky)
121, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge)
122, Luke Rowe (Team Sky)
123, Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo)
124, Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol)
125, Campbell Flakemore (UniSA)
126, Neil Van Der Ploeg (UniSA)
127, Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale)
128, Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida)
129, Matteo Bono (Lampre-Merida)
130, Graeme Brown (Belkin)
131, Damien Gaudin (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
132, Maxime Daniel (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
133, William Clarke (Drapac)
134, Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano)
135, Thomas Peterson (Giant-Shimano)
136, Rick Flens (Belkin)
137, Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida)
138, David Tanner (Belkin) at 12 mins 40 secs
King of the mountains:
Mengler’s Hill (km. 123):
1, Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) 16
2, Axel Domont (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 12
3, Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing) 8
4, Robert Gesink (Belkin) 6
5, Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo) 4
6, Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) 2
Intermediate Sprints:
Bethany (km 26.1):
1, Will Clarke (Drapac) 5
2, Neil Van Der Ploeg (UniSA) 3
3, Simon Geschke (Giant-Shimano) 2
Bethany (km 71.6):
1, Neil van der Ploeg (UniSA) 5
2, William Clarke (Drapac) 3
3, Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) 2
Europcar Most Competitive Rider: William Clarke (Drapac)
Teams:
1, Lampre-Merida 10 hours 1 min 46 secs
2, Orica-GreenEdge, at 4 secs
3, BMC
4, Lotto-Belisol
5, Astana
6, Garmin-Sharp
7, Team Sky
8, Ag2r-La Mondiale
9, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, at 8 secs
10, Drapac
11, Trek Factory Racing
12, Europcar
13, FDJ
14, Uni-SA
15, Movistar
16, Cannondale, at 2 mins 25 secs
17, Tinkoff-Saxo Bank
18, Katusha
19, Belkin 4 mins 38 secs
20, Giant-Shimano, at 7 mins 50 secs
Overall classification:
1, Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) 3 hours 20 mins 23 secs
2, Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) at 5 secs
3, Steele von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) at 7 secs
4, Simon Geschke (Giant-Shimano) at 10 secs
5, Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) at 11 secs
6, Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
7, Francesco Gavazzi (Astana)
8, Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida)
9, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team)
10, Robert Gesink (Belkin)
11, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky)
12, Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol) at 15 secs
13, Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp)
14, Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge)
15, Carlos Verona (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
16, Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo)
17, Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team)
18, Frank Schleck (Trek Factory Racing)
19, Ruben Plaza (Movistar)
20, Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
21, George Bennett (Cannondale)
22, Angelo Tulik (Europcar)
23, Valerio Agnoli (Astana)
24, Wesley Sulzberger (Drapac)
25, Darren Lapthorne (Drapac)
26, Philip Deignan (Team Sky)
27, Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge)
28, Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team)
29, Richie Porte (Team Sky)
30, Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing)
31, Kenny Elissonde (FDJ)
32, Christpher Juul Jensen (Tinkoff-Saxo)
33, Lieuwe Westra (Astana)
34, Cameron Wurf (Cannondale)
35, Bernard Sulzberger (Drapac)
36, Luca Wackermann (Lampre-Merida)
37, Amael Moinard (BMC Racing Team)
38, Steve Morabito (BMC Racing Team)
39, Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar)
40, Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory)
41, Axel Domont (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
42, Serge Pauwels (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
43, Robbie Hucker (Drapac)
44, Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
45, Anthony Giacoppo (UniSA)
46, Stig Broeckx (Lotto-Belisol)
47, Rick Zabel (BMC Racing Team)
48, Mark O'Brien (UniSA)
49, Julien Berard (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
50, Caleb Fairly (Garmin-Sharp)
51, Jens Debusschere (Lotto-Belisol)
52, Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge)
53, Eduard Vorganov (Katusha)
54, Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (FDJ)
55, Anthony Roux (FDJ)
56, Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team)
57, Bjorn Hurau (Europcar)
58, Andriy Grivko (Astana)
59, Egor Silin (Katusha)
60, Jack Haig (UniSA)
61, Marcel Sieberg (Lotto-Belisol)
62, Nathan Earle (Team Sky)
63, Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp)
64, Lachlan Morton (Garmin-Sharp)
65, Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing)
66, Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol)
67, Yukiya Arashiro (Astana)
68, Javier Moreno (Movistar)
69, Jose Joaquin Rojas (FDJ)
70, Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac) at 2 mins 32 secs
71, Travis Meyer (Drapac)
72, Matejv Mohoric (Cannondale)
73, Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida)
74, Thierry Hupond (Giant-Shimano)
75, Pavel Kochetkov (Katusha)
76, Mark Renshaw (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
77, Jussi Veikkanen (FDJ)
78, Boy Van Poppel (Trek Factory)
79, Sébastien Turgot (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
80, Nikias Arndt (Giant-Shimano)
81, William Bonnet (FDJ)
82, Maxim Belkov (Katusha)
83, Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ)
84, Elia Viviani (Cannondale)
85, Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
86, Andrew Fenn (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
87, Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale)
88, Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
89, Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp)
90, Arnaud Courteille (FDJ)
91, Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Sharp)
92, Nicki Sorensen (Tinkoff-Saxo)
93, Kevin Reza (Europcar)
94, Ian Stannard (Team Sky)
95, Caleb Ewan (UniSA)
96, Michael Kolar (Tinkoff-Saxo) at 4 mins 4 secs
97, Nicolay Trusov (Tinkoff-Saxo)
98, Fabio Felline (Trek Factory Racing)
99, Koen De Kort (Giant-Shimano)
100, Stef Clement (Belkin 4 mins 8 secs
101, Jack Bobridge (Belkin)
102, Bradley Linfield (UniSA)
103, Jérome Cousin (Europcar)
104, Ivan Jose Gutierrez (Movistar)
105, Calvin Watson (Trek Factory Racing)
106, Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha)
107, Matthias Krizek (Cannondale)
108, Imanol Erviti (Movistar)
109, Johannes Fröhlinger (Giant-Shimano)
110, Aleksandr Porsev (Katusha)
111, Evan Huffman (Astana)
112, Bram Tankink (Belkin)
113, Michael Andersen (Tinkoff-Saxo)
114, Enrico Gasparotto (Astana)
115, Marco Haller (Katusha)
116, Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana) at 6 mins 4 secs
117, José Juan Lobato (Movistar) at 7 mins 6 secs
118, Neil Van Der Ploeg (UniSA) at 8 mins 14 secs
119, William Clarke (Drapac)
120, Mathew Hayman (Orica-GreenEdge) at 8 mins 19 secs
121, Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge)
122, Bernard Eisel (Team Sky)
123, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge)
124, Luke Rowe (Team Sky)
125, Jay McCarthy (Tinkoff-Saxo)
126, Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol)
127, Campbell Flakemore (UniSA)
128, Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale)
129, Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida)
130, Matteo Bono (Lampre-Merida)
131, Graeme Brown (Belkin)
132, Damien Gaudin (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
133, Maxime Daniel (Ag2r-La Mondiale)
134, Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano)
135, Thomas Peterson (Giant-Shimano)
136, Rick Flens (Belkin)
137, Davide Cimolai (Lampre-Merida)
138, David Tanner (Belkin 12 mins 51 secs
King of the Mountains:
1, Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) 16
2, Axel Domont (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 12
3, Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing) 8
4, Robert Gesink (Belkin) 6
5, Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo) 4
6, Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) 2
Sprint Classification:
1, Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) 17
2, Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 14
3, Steele von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) 13
4, Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) 12
5, Simon Geschke (Giant-Shimano) 11
6, Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 11
7, Francesco Gavazzi (Astana) 10
8, Neil Van Der Ploeg (UniSA) 8
9, William Clarke (Drapac) 8
10, Rafael Valls (Lampre-Merida) 8
Best young rider:
1, Carlos Verona (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 3 hours 20 mins 38 secs
2, Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
3, Kenny Elissonde (FDJ)
4, Luca Wackermann (Lampre-Merida)
5, Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory)
6, Rick Zabel (BMC Racing Team)
7, Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (FDJ)
8, Jack Haig (UniSA)
9, Lachlan Morton (Garmin-Sharp)
10, Matejv Mohoric (Cannondale)
Overall team classification:
1, Lampre-Merida 10 hours 1 min 46 secs
2, Orica-GreenEdge, at 4 secs
3, BMC
4, Lotto-Belisol
5, Astana
6, Garmin-Sharp
7, Team Sky
8, Ag2r-La Mondiale
9, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, at 8 secs
10, Drapac
11, Trek Factory Racing
12, Europcar
13, FDJ
14, Uni-SA
15, Movistar
16, Cannondale, at 2 mins 25 secs
17, Tinkoff-Saxo Bank
18, Katusha
19, Belkin 4 mins 38 secs
20, Giant-Shimano, at 7 mins 50 secs
Click on first image below to open a gallery of photos