Mike Matthews beats Greipel to the line in stage 3 of the Tour Down Under

Mike Matthews continued the good run of the young stars as he took stage three of the Tour Down Under in Stirling, Australia.

The 20-year-old Rabobank rider took a huge scalp as he beat the TdU king Andre Greipel to the line, despite the German’s best efforts. He is the second Australian to win a stage of this year’s tour with Matt first. Matthews came in to the final straight down in to fifth, but managed to power past the rest of the pack and make it look easy.

Tough Day in the Hills
Stage three was the first of the hills in this year’s tour and probably the most difficult alongside Stage 5 heading in to Willunga. Third place fell to Tasmanian Goss, who re-took the leaders Ochre jersey. The leader’s curse seemed to continue as Robbie McEwen got a puncture late on in the stage causing him to lose control on the race.

It was mixed emotions for the Rabobank as their leader Graeme Brown wasn’t able to contest the sprint after he was caught up in a crash earlier in the stage. After the crashes from stage 2 there were two riders who didn’t sign on in the morning; Chris Sutton and Bernard Sulzberger didn’t make the start. Mark Cavendish was also caught up in the crashes of stage 2, but managed sign on in the morning. The points winner from last year’s Vuelta a Espana struggled over the line 13 minutes down on the leaders, with visible marks from his the previous days exertions.

Taking it Easy
The rest of the peloton were a bit tentative at the start and easily let Vacansoleil-DCM’s Thomas De Gendt away only 10km after they left the neutral zone. He was joined by three more riders including under-23 World Champion Luke Durbridge. The Aussie took all the point available in the King of the Mountains competition and claiming the most aggressive rider prize in the process.

Once the breakaway was caught it was time for some more young riders to put their mark with Ben Hermans of RadioShack and Richie Porte from Saxo Bank. The pair didn’t have enough in the tank to make it stick; it was the sprinters who took control in the end.

Stage 4 heads from Norwood, Adelaide 124km down the road to Strathalbyn; it is another chance for the local riders to shine as it is a common training ride for all.