Australian riders Matt Goss and Mark Renshaw got HTC-Highroad’s international season off to a superb start today, sprinting in first and second at the end of the Adelaide Cancer Council Classic, a 51 kilometre street race held in the Australian city.
Team-mate Chloe Hosking ramped up the celebrations when she took the preceding Renditions Homes Santos Cup, stage one of a two-day women’s race which began on the same circuit.
Goss had triumphed earlier this month in the Jayco Bay Classic series, winning two stages plus the overall classification, but today’s race is a real step up in standard due to the presence of the international ProTeams. Some of the top names in world cycling are in Australia, including Santos Tour Down Under defending champion Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Goss’ team-mate Mark Cavendish (HTC- Highroad), former world champion Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing), double Tour de France green jersey winner Robbie McEwen and his RadioShack team-mate Lance Armstrong.
McEwen was best placed of those riders, netting third in the final sprint to the line.
“It's a great way to start the season with a win for the team,” said a beaming Goss afterwards. “January has been really good to me. With the guys that we have here, we have so much strength, all I really had to do was sprint.”
Racing was fast and furious from the drop of the flag, with a break of five riders tearing away on the second of thirty laps. They built a lead of half a minute but hard chasing from sprinters’ teams reeled them in with five to go.
From there the HTC-Highroad, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Team Radioshack and Sky teams rode hard to keep the pace high and to prevent any other attackers; the latter was manoeuvering 2010 winner Greg Henderson to try to repeat his victory, but he was one of several riders who came down in a crash on the second last corner. The same incident also stifled the chances of Greipel and Cavendish, who were on the same team last year but have built up a real rivalry.
“Grabshi [Bert Grabsch] and Danny [Pate] did a great job bringing back the break and [Mark] Renshaw did the perfect job getting me and Cav [Mark Cavendish] into the right position,” said Goss. “The plan was for Cav to sprint off Renshaw's wheel and for me to be on Cav's wheel to give us a couple of options. But on the last lap there was a crash and Cav had to brake a little, so I got onto Renshaw's wheel and he took me all the way to the line.
“Cav didn't go down and probably could have got back on the wheels, but he saw that a gap had opened so he left it open.”
McEwen was riding his first race alongside his new RadioShack team-mates, the Australian having completed a late transfer to the team after his Pegasus Racing squad was unable to secure a UCI Professional Continental licence. He triumphed five years ago but had to make do with a podium finish today; because of complications at the end, he said he was very happy with his showing.
“I made quite a few accelerations on my own trying to position myself among the first ten constantly, as it's the place to stay out of trouble,” he stated. “Basically having been in the crash without falling and to come back and pass everybody, cross the gap to the first four and finish third is pretty decent, so I'm optimistic.” He’s hoping to take a stage win in the Santos Tour Down Under this week.
The HTC-Highroad team won the UCI World Tour race in 2008 and 2010. Greipel has now moved on but it wants to try to repeat that success with one of its other riders. Cavendish is recognised as the fastest sprinter in the world when he is on form, but Goss’ good condition and the fact that he is race-sharp from competing in other Australian events means that he could well be the team’s prime contender.
“This win is a great start for us, but we've not begun the actual Tour yet. So we'll take it one day at a time and hopefully we can continue the way we have started,” he said.
The 2011 Santos Tour Down Under begins on Tuesday with a 138km stage from Mawson Lakes to Angaston.
Hosking beats her rivals in women's event:
The US team also came out in top in the women’s race, with Chloe Hosking taking the champagne in the Renditions Homes Santos Cup. “I'm really excited to get my first win for the year,” she stated afterwards. “Coming off the Bay Classics where I didn't have such a great ride, I really wanted to do well here.”
She also took her win in a bunch sprint, galloping in ahead of Rochelle Gilmore (Honda Dream Team), Annette Edmondson (SASI Team O'Grady) and the rest of the field.
The race is a two day event and will therefore conclude tomorrow. She said it’s part of her plan to build form for a bigger appointment coming up. “This gives me the confidence I need to have a good month of training leading up to Tour of Qatar, which is our first major team race for the season.
“Honda covered most of the break and I was able to just wait for the right moment because I don't have team-mates here,"explained Hosking. "The last lap was a little confusing and whilst people were looking at each other on the right I went up the left and managed to get around for the win.”
Note: The riders competing in the Cancer Council Classic have agreed to donate the prize money from the race (€12,000 / approx AUD16,000) to the Flood Relief Appeal, which will help those affected by the devastating Queensland floods.
In addition to the prize money donation, all 19 teams have donated a signed team jersey for auction on eBay. Fans are urged to bid here on www.ebay.com.au or to donate direct to the Flood Relief Appeal.
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Adelaide Cancer Council Classic:
1, Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad) 51 kilometres (30 laps) in 1 hour 5 mins 12 secs
2, Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad)
3, Robbie McEwen (Radio Shack)
4, Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale)
5, Chris Sutton (Sky Procycling)
6, Davide Vigano (Leopard Trek)
7, Ben Swift (Sky Procycling)
8, Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar)
9, Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas-Cannondale)
10, Allan Davis (Astana)
11, Michael Matthews (Rabobank)
12, Francesco Chicchi (Quickstep)
13, Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha)
14, Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil-DCM)
15, Andr Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
16, Francisco Ventoso (Movistar)
17, Davide Cimolai (Liquigas-Cannondale) at 6 secs
18, Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo)
19, Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM) at 8 secs
20, Mitchell Docker (UNI SA - Australia)
21, Baden Cooke (Saxo Bank Sungard)
22, Mathew Hayman (Sky Procycling)
23, Inaki Isasi (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
24, Kristof Goddaert (AG2R La Mondiale)
25, Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale)
26, Jon Izaguirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
27, Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-DCM)
28, Valentin Iglinskiy (Astana)
29, Stijn Vandenbergh (Katusha)
30, Nikolay Trusov (Katusha)
31, Stuart O'Grady (Leopard Trek)
32, Alexander Kristoff (BMC)
33, Bernard Sulzberger (UNI SA - Australia)
34, Jonathan Cantwell (UNI SA - Australia)
35, Gerald Ciolek (Quickstep)
36, Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar)
37, Manuel Cardoso (Radio Shack)
38, Luis Pasamontes (Movistar)
39, Alan Perez Lezaun (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
40, John Murphy (BMC)
41, Alessandro Ballan (BMC)
42, Julien Vermote (Quickstep)
43, Simone Ponzi (Liquigas-Cannondale) at 13 secs
44, Juan Jos Haedo (Saxo Bank Sungard)
45, Markel Irizar (Radio Shack)
46, Eduard Vorganov (Katusha)
47, Martin Kohler (BMC)
48, Yuriy Krivtsov (AG2R La Mondiale)
49, Marcel Sieberg (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
50, William Clarke (Leopard Trek)
51, Gregory Rast (Radio Shack)
52, Wesley Sulzberger (UNI SA - Australia)
53, Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
54, Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
55, Francesco Reda (Quickstep)
56, Simon Zahner (BMC) at 20 secs
57, Jos van Emden (Rabobank) at 22 secs
58, Davide Malacarne (Quickstep) at 23 secs
59, Daniel Sesma (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
60, Miguel Minguez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
61, Julien Loubet (AG2R La Mondiale)
62, Bert Grabsch (HTC-Highroad)
63, Bruno Pires (Leopard Trek)
64, Nicki Srensen (Saxo Bank Sungard)
65, Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM)
66, Manuele Mori (Lampre - ISD)
67, Steve Houanard (AG2R La Mondiale)
68, Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack)
69, Vitaliy Buts (Lampre - ISD)
70, David Tanner (Saxo Bank Sungard)
71, Alan Marangoni (Liquigas-Cannondale)
72, Maxim Gourov (Astana)
73, Mathieu Perget (AG2R La Mondiale)
74, Kristijan Koren (Liquigas-Cannondale)
75, Stefan Denifl (Leopard Trek)
76, Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil-DCM)
77, Addy Engels (Quickstep)
78, Serguei Ivanov (Katusha)
79, Alfredo Balloni (Lampre - ISD)
80, Aitor Perez Arrieta (Lampre - ISD)
81, Matteo Bono (Lampre - ISD)
82, Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy (Astana)
83, Michael Hepburn (UNI SA - Australia)
84, Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervelo)
85, Luke Roberts (UNI SA - Australia)
86, Ben Hermans (Radio Shack)
87, David Lopez (Movistar)
88, Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
89, Danny Pate (HTC-Highroad)
90, Laurens ten Dam (Rabobank)
91, Julian Dean (Garmin-Cervelo)
92, Juan Horrach (Katusha)
93, Simon Gerrans (Sky Procycling)
94, Tanel Kangert (Astana)
95, Richie Porte (Saxo Bank Sungard)
96, Amal Moinard (BMC)
97, Brian Vandborg (Saxo Bank Sungard)
98, Luke Durbridge (UNI SA - Australia)
99, Aleksandr Kuschynski (Katusha)
100, Jurgen Van De Walle (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
101, Vicente Reynes (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
102, Martin Pedersen (Leopard Trek)
103, Jos Vicente Garcia (Movistar)
104, Angel Madrazo (Movistar)
105, Dimitri Champion (AG2R La Mondiale) at 30 secs
106, Robbie Hunter (Radio Shack)
107, Geraint Thomas (Sky Procycling)
108, Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad)
109, Hayden Roulston (HTC-Highroad)
110, Graeme Brown (Rabobank)
111, Travis Meyer (Garmin-Cervelo)
112, Timothy Roe (BMC)
113, Pieter Weening (Rabobank)
114, Andriy Grivko (Astana) at 37 secs
115, Marco Bandiera (Quickstep)
116, Cameron Meyer (Garmin-Cervelo) at 40 secs
117, Alberto Ongarato (Vacansoleil-DCM)
118, Martin Mortensen (Leopard Trek)
119, Alessandro Spezialetti (Lampre - ISD)
120, Daniele Righi (Lampre - ISD)
121, Coen Vermeltfoort (Rabobank)
122, Matthew Wilson (Garmin-Cervelo)
123, Brett Lancaster (Garmin-Cervelo)
124, Joost Van Leijen (Vacansoleil-DCM) at 44 secs
125, Sebastian Haedo (Saxo Bank Sungard)
126, Olivier Kaisen (Omega Pharma-Lotto) at 48 secs
127, Greg Henderson (Sky Procycling) at 1 min 16 secs
128, Adam Hansen (Omega Pharma-Lotto) at 1 min 38 secs
129, Michael Rogers (Sky Procycling)
130, Simon Clarke (Astana) at 1 min 42 secs
131, Cameron Wurf (Liquigas-Cannondale) at 3 mins 10 secs
Skoda Sprint lap 5 : Luke Durbridge (UNI SA - Australia)
Hindmarsh Sprint lap 10: 1, Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
Cycle Instead Sprint lap 15: 1, Martin Mortensen (Leopard Trek)
Jayco Sprint lap 20: 1, Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
Renditions Homes Santos Cup, Adelaide:
1, Chloe Hosking (HTC) at 31 mins 14 secs
2, Rochelle Gilmore (Honda Dream Team)
3, Annette Edmondson (SASI Team O'Grady)
4, Kirsty Broun (Lifecycle Cycling Club)
5, Nicole Whitburn (Carnegie Caulfield CC)
6, Chaekyung Rhee (Korea)
7, Narae Shin (Korea)
8, Megan Dunn (Dubbo CC)
9, Carly Light (Port Adalaide CC)
10, Emma Mackie (Balmoral CC