Tour Down Under: Stage 6. McEwen second

Queensland’s Allan Davis (Quickstep) has been crowned champion of the 2009 Tour Down Under and leader of the UCI ProTour after an impressive week of racing that saw him win three of the event’s six stages.

Today’s 81 kilometre stage,18 laps of the 4.5km Adelaide City Council Circuit was effectively a victory procession for Davis and 144,000 fans, the highest ever one day crowd for an Australian sporting event, turned out to congratulate him.

McEwen out of the saddle

McEwen winning Cancer Council Classic

The main question for Robbie McEwen is “Will he participate in this year’s Tour de France?”. According to the medical staff, it is too early to speak about “le grand boucle”. The main goal for Robbie are now the spring classics, including Milan – San-Remo.

ADELAIDE, Australia, Jan 20, 2009 (AFP) – Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen
suffered a gash and bump on his right forearm on Tuesday thanks to an
overzealous spectator at the Tour Down Under who may have compromised his race.

McEwen collided with a “big camera” as he hurtled towards the first stage
finish line at nearly 70 kilometres (45 miles) per hour, but managed to stay
on the saddle and finish fourth. It’s not the first time when a rider collides an object from the spectators mass.

He was taken immediately to hospital and said he would make a decision on
Wednesday morning whether to start the second stage.

McEwen, the winner of 12 stages on the Tour de France and a three-time
winner of the race’s green jersey for the points competition, could not
believe his misfortune.

“I’ll have to make a decision in the morning. I couldn’t pull on the
handlebars, so it’s obviously a worry,” said the Belgium-based Aussie after
the stage, won by German sprinter Andre Greipel.

“I was winding up my sprint when someone reached out with a big camera and
it struck me in the arm.”

Providing he has escaped any fractures, McEwen will hope some overnight
therapy allows him to continue in the race, as he bids to bolster Katusha’s
victory count in their first season in the peloton.

Robbie McEwen brings the first win for Katusha

Robbie McEwen: first win for Katusha

Australian Robbie McEwen, of the Katusha team, claimed the victory honours in the 51km inner city criterium which traditionally precedes the Tour Down Under here.

But all eyes were on the 37-year-old Texan who famously battled cancer in 1998 before going on to win a record seven yellow jerseys at the Tour de France between 1999-2005.

Although Armstrong’s official comeback will take place at the race’s first stage proper on Tuesday — the criterium here is not an International Cycling Union (UCI) sanctioned race — the American still courted plenty of attention.

An estimated crowd of over 130,000, according to organisers, turned out to watch proceedings, with crowd favourite McEwen stunning a strong Columbia team with a late surge at the finish line.

Katusha Team to debut at the 2009 Tour Down Under

Two new UCI ProTour team – Team Katusha – will make its ProTour debut at the 2009 Tour Down Under.

Mike Turtur, Tour Down Under Race Director, is pleased to see the UCI ProTour continuing to expand to include teams from all corners of the globe.

“It is great to see two new teams joining the UCI ProTour. And I am pleased that Team Katusha is being spearheaded by Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen,” said Mike Turtur.

Robbie McEwen has had 12 stage wins in the Tour de France in his decorated professional cycling career. He also has the most individual stage wins in the Tour Down Under’s history, with 12 stage wins.

“McEwen has a successful track record at the Tour Down Under, having also won the overall SA Lotteries sprinter classification twice. 2009 may be his time to take an overall event victory,” said Mike Turtur.

Garmin Slipstream’s Team Manager, Matthew White, is a previous Tour Down Under stage winner, having won Stage 4 of the 2005 event.

“It will be great to see Matt back at the event, now on the other side of the competition,” said Mike Turtur.

“We are also looking forward to seeing Julian Dean perform as New Zealand’s current national road race champion.”

The Team Katusha line up for the 2009 Tour Down Under, led by Team Manager, Dmitri Konyshev (RUS), is: Robbie McEwen (AUS), Geert Steegmans (BEL), Kenny De Haes (BEL), Juan Horrach (ESP), Stijn Vandenbergh (BEL), Sergey Klimov (RUS) and Nikolay Trusov (RUS).

The Garmin Slipstream team competing at the 2009 Tour Down Under includes: Julian Dean (NZL), Trent Lowe (AUS), Timmy Duggan (USA), Chris Sutton (AUS), Ryder Hesjedal (CAN), Cameron Meyer (AUS) and Christian Meier (CAN). Decorated Australian cycling identity, Matthew White (AUS) will lead the charge as Team Manager.

The main goal for the team is, no doubt, to lead Robbie McEwen to his first wins in the colors of the Katusha Team.