André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) secured his sixteenth stage win in Australia on the final stage of the Tour Down Under. In a gripping sprint, he prevailed against Mark Renshaw (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Andrew Fenn (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).
"Hats off to my teammates", said Greipel after the victory, “They drove so fast today that I really only had to start at the last moment. This is a victory for all of us.”
Greipel's teammate Adam Hansen also secured the mountain jersey on Australia's national holiday. his compatriot Jack Haig (UniSA) was the best young professional and Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) completed the good performance of the Australians in their home tour with his first place overall ahead of Cadel Evans (BMC).
Just like a year ago, when Gerrans also became national champion before the start of the Tour Down Under, he was able to maintain his form during the tour and master the race with confidence. In Evans he still had a strong opponent who had to admit defeat by just one second in the end. While second place was the best result at the Tour Down Under for the 2011 Tour de France winner, Gerrans set a new record with his third win overall.
As in the days before, the escapees determined the first part of the race on the last day. With Will Clarke (Drapac) there was also an Australian. However, with his companions Maxim Belkov (Katusha) and Julien Bérard (Ag2R-La Mondiale), he was never able to gain more than a two-minute lead.
//Result
1. André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 1:55:16
2. Mark Renshaw (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 0:00:00
3. Andrew Fenn (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 0:00:00
4. Koen De Kort (Giant Shimano) 0:00:00
5.Jonathan Cantwell (Drapac) 0:00:00
//overall rating
1. Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEdge) 19:57:35
2.Cadel Evans (BMC) 0:00:01
3. Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) 0:00:05
4. Richie Porte (Sky) 0:00:10
5. Nathan Haas (Garmin Sharp) 0:00:27