The traditional opener for the Santos Tour Down Under, the Down Under Classic, has been won in spectacular fashion by Lotto-Belisol’s Andre Greipel. The 51 kilometre (30 laps) circuit race of Adelaide saw the German sprinter storm home in front of 112,000 fans, beating Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) into second and with Garmin-Barracuda’s Heinrich Haussler third. Speaking after the event, Greipel said, “As a team, we didn’t want to race with too much pressure but it worked out well… We practised a lot of lead out train before this race and it paid off. It’s always good to win and it’s a great way to start a new season.”
Riders break from the action today (Monday, January 16) before tackling the first stage proper of the UCI WorldTour tomorrow, taking on the 149km leg from Prospect to Clare.
