Goss Claims opening stage of Tour Down Under

Australian Matt Goss claimed the opening stage of the Tour Down Under along with the leader’s jersey in front of his home crowd.

The HTC rider beat his former team-mate Andre Greipel (now Omega-Pharma Lotto) in an uphill sprint to the line in Angaston, South Australia. The home nation also saw Robbie McEwen, who has recently moved to RadioShack, find form again in third place. The American team showed why they are one of the most feared teams in the peloton, by keeping the pace up and making sure more than one of their riders had a chance for the victory. Goss has already taken wins at two other races at this early stage in the season at the Jayco Bay Classic and Cancer Council Classic.

Five-man Breakaway
At the start of the 189km stage five men made a bid for freedom including Simon Clarke (Astana), Mathieu Perget (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Mitchell Docker (UniSA-Australia), Miguel Minguez and Jon Izaguirre (both Euskaltel-Euskadi). The pace of the peloton was quick and it wasn’t to be for the five as they were collected way before the end. Clarke managed to hang on the longest, but was eventually drawn in with 20km to go; getting most aggressive rider for his efforts.

One the breakaway rider shad been dealt with it was time for the top teams to get their stars in the right position. At 1km to go Mark Renshaw was on the front battling with the force of Team Sky in the uphill drag race. Unfortunately it was too much for Sky’s Greg Henderson, who crashed in the final sprint at the Cancer Council Classic. In the end the best the team could manage was fourth in the guise of Chris Sutton; while Michael Rogers suffered a mechanical problem in the later stages.

Cav has to Settle for Less
HTC’s top sprinter Mark Cavendish had to settle for finishing in the bunch down in 62nd, while Tyler Farrar came home in 59th, both with the same time as Goss. Lance Armstrong also made a relatively demure start to his last non-American race. The Texan is set to end his pro career for the second time this year after struggling to find form since coming back.

Goss will put on the ochre leader’s jersey during the second stage which will go 146km from Tailem Bend to Mannum. Due to the time bonuses on the line the Aussie will take a four second lead ahead of Greipel and six before McEwen.