Tour Down Under 2003

Tour Down Under 2003
Host country	Australia
Competition period	January 21-26, 2003
Stages	6 stages
overall length	735 kilometers
Starting field	94 in 12 teams (of which 78 arrived at the finish)
← Tour Down Under 2002	Tour Down Under 2004 →

Final score

First	Mikel Astarloza	17:17:45 h
Second	Lennie Kristensen	same time
Third	Stuart O'Grady	+ 0:04 min
Fourth	Giampaolo Caruso	same time
fifth	Paolo Lanfranchi	+ 0:06
Sixth	Xavier Florencio	+ 0:07 min
seventh	Patrick Jonker	+ 0:09 min
Eighth	David Cañada	+ 0:13 min
Ninth	Steffen Wesemann	+ 0:15 min
Tenth	Cadel Evans	same time
Sprint scoring	Andrea Tafi	34 P.
Second	Bathing Cooke	22 p.
Third	Jaan Kirsipuu	16 p.
Mountain scoring	Cadel Evans	44 P.
Second	Lennie Kristensen	44 P.
Third	Paolo Lanfranchi	36 P.
Young talent evaluation	Gene Bates	17:18:30 h
Second	Dirk Reichl	+ 6:56 min
Third	Brendan Cato	+ 11:30 min
Team evaluation	ONCE-Eroski	51:54:22 h
Second	Team Deutsche Telekom	+ 0:12 min
Third	Ag2r Prévoyance	+ 0:18 min

The 5th Tour Down Under (officially: Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under ) took place from January 21st to 26th, 2003, a week later than usual. The cycle race consisted of six stages, began in the South Australian capital Adelaide and ended there. The total distance of the stage race was 735 kilometers and thus 2 kilometers more than in the previous year. The Tour Down Under was classified in UCI category 2.3.

The participants

The hosting South Australian Tourism Commission invited two Australian teams this year, United Water and the University of South Australia , which brought an Australian national selection to the start. As in previous years, there were a total of twelve cycling teams at the start, with the Deutsche Telekom , Ag2r Prévoyance , Crédit Agricole , Quick Step - Davitamon and Saeco or ONCE-Eroski team, some of the most well-known teams in the world being invited. A total of nine teams took part, which had already participated in the previous year. Each team consisted of eight drivers, with Quickstep and ONCE only nominating seven professionals.

The Australian drivers who were in the middle of their season were once again considered to be the favorites for overall victory, while the European professionals used the tour primarily to prepare for the season that started in March. Last year's winner Michael Rogers ( Quick Step - Davitamon ), Stuart O'Grady ( Crédit Agricole ), two-time winner of the race, and Cadel Evans , 2002 winner of the mountain classification , were on the start list . Robbie McEwen from Lotto-Domo , Graeme Brown from Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo and Baden Cooke ( FDJeux.com ) were considered favorites in the anticipated mass sprints . But also foreign drivers like Steffen Wesemann ( Team Telekom ), who had been among the top ten in the overall standings again and again in previous years, and his team mate Bobby Julich were given a good chance of a top position before the start of the event. The Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu from AG2R Prévoyance , the Italian Luca Paolini (Quick Step - Davitamon) or the New Zealander Julian Dean ( Team CSC ) were other candidates for a sprint victory .

FDJeux.com AG2R Prévoyance Crédit Agricole

Quick Step - Davitamon Lotto domo Saeco

Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo United Water UniSA

ONCE-Eroski Team Deutsche Telekom CSC

The stages

As the highlight of the week-long festival of cycling in Adelaide , the Tour Down Under through the province of South Australia was run for the fifth time since 1999. The six-stage tour started again in the provincial capital Adelaide after two years and ended in the same as in its previous editions. The route was at times based on last year's edition, but with the start in Adelaide or the postponement of the stage around Willunga to the fifth day, some changes had been made to the route.

1st leg, East End Adelaide Street Race

The Tour Down Under 2003 started with a circuit race over 50 kilometers, consisting of a two-kilometer lap in the Adelaider "East End" to be completed 25 times. Shortly after the start, a seven-man breakaway group formed around the Italian Fabio Sacchi from Saeco , who had worn the yellow jersey for three stages last year, but never managed to gain a lead of over 40 seconds and was finally caught again. In the expected mass sprint, the Australian Graeme Brown ( Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo ) prevailed in front of 55,000 spectators, but a jury decision a little later, Brown was relegated for leaving his driving line and placed in last place. Instead, the runner-up Baden Cooke was awarded the victory.

Result East End Adelaide Street Race

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Bathing Cooke		FDJeux.com	1:02:20 h
2.	Robbie McEwen		Lotto domo	same time
3.	Luca Paolini		Quick Step - Davitamon	same time
4th	Julian Dean		Crédit Agricole	same time
5.	Allan Davis		ONCE-Eroski	same time

2nd stage, Jacob's Creek - Kapunda

The second part of the day led the field of drivers north towards the Barossa Valley wine-growing region . 35 kilometers from the finish of the 140-kilometer stage, Mengler's Hill was the first notable ascent of the tour. 45 kilometers after the start, Russell Van Hout from UniSA left the field alone and extended his lead to almost seven minutes. This was later followed by an attack by 3 drivers who were soon followed by eight other professionals. 25 kilometers from the finish, Van der Hout and the two chasing groups united, who were now being chased by 20 other drivers, including Stuart O'Grady and Michael Rogers . From the top group, half of the members gradually fell back, including the German Steffen Wesemann . 1000 meters before the finish line, Fabio Sacchi made the decisive attack and celebrated a solo victory in front of Robbie McEwen , who won the sprint of the pursuers, among whom Mikel Astarloza was sixth of the day. The group around Rogers and O'Grady crossed the finish line 23 seconds behind.

Result 2nd stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Fabio Sacchi		Saeco	3:29:16 h
2.	Robbie McEwen		Lotto domo	+ 0:14 min
3.	Cédric Hervé		Crédit Agricole	same time
4th	Andy Flickinger		Ag2r Prévoyance	same time
5.	Lennie Kristensen		CSC	same time

Overall ranking after the 2nd stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Fabio Sacchi		Saeco	4:31:30 h
2.	Robbie McEwen		Lotto domo	+ 0:16 min
3.	Cédric Hervé		Crédit Agricole	+ 0:18 min
4th	Andy Flickinger		Ag2r Prévoyance	+ 0:20 min
5.	Mikel Astarloza		Ag2r Prévoyance	same time

3rd stage, Glenelg - Hahndorf

At 164 kilometers, the third stage was the longest section of the Tour Down Under 2003 and began in Glenelg , the starting point in previous years. From the coast the route led over the only mountain classification of the day, the Checker Hill , and two intermediate sprints on a circuit to be completed twice (10 km each lap) in Hahndorf. The breakaway group of the day comprised eight drivers, but they were caught up again by the field at the start of the circuit in Hahndorf. An attack by Bergpreis leader Russell Van Hout could also be thwarted, so that it came to the mass sprint , which Robbie McEwen was able to win in the photofinish against Graeme Brown .

Result 3rd stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Robbie McEwen		Lotto Adecco	3:53:04 h
2.	Graeme Brown		Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo	same time
3.	Stuart O'Grady		Crédit Agricole	same time
4th	Allan Davis		ONCE-Eroski	same time
5.	Luca Paolini		Quick Step - Davitamon	same time

Overall ranking after the 3rd stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Fabio Sacchi		Saeco	8:24:34 h
2.	Robbie McEwen		Lotto domo	+ 0:10 min
3.	Cédric Hervé		Crédit Agricole	+ 0:18 min
4th	Andy Flickinger		Ag2r Prévoyance	+ 0:20 min
5.	Mikel Astarloza		Ag2r Prévoyance	same time

4th stage, Unley - Goolwa

On the fourth day, the route led over 144 kilometers over largely flat terrain from Unley to Goolwa . Ten kilometers from the finish, there was a short climb on McFarlane Hill . With an air temperature of up to 43 ° C, the Australian U-23 time trial champion Adrian Laidler ( UniSA ) pulled away shortly after the start and gained a lead of up to eleven minutes. On the second intermediate sprint of the day, Robbie McEwen secured two bonus seconds and moved up to eight seconds on leader Fabio Sacchi in the overall standings. When there were still twelve kilometers to go, runaway Laidler was caught up again by the field. After the only mountain classification of the day, ten drivers were able to break away, including Sacchi. But 5000 meters from the finish this attack was thwarted too, so that there was a mass sprint in which Baden Cooke prevailed, while Graeme Brown took second place ahead of Stuart O'Grady for the second time in a row .

Result 4th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Bathing Cooke		Française Des Jeux	3:33:59 h
2.	Graeme Brown		Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo	same time
3.	Stuart O'Grady		Crédit Agricole	same time
4th	Robbie McEwen		Lotto domo	same time
5.	Ashley Hutchinson		United Water	same time

Overall ranking after the 4th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Fabio Sacchi		Saeco	11:58:33 h
2.	Robbie McEwen		Lotto domo	+ 0:08 min
3.	Andy Flickinger		Ag2r Prévoyance	+ 0:17 min
4th	Cédric Hervé		Crédit Agricole	+ 0:18 min
5.	Mikel Astarloza		Ag2r Prévoyance	+ 0:20 min

5th stage, Willunga - Willunga

The penultimate stage of the race traditionally led around the town of Willunga in the south of Adelaide, but this year it was no longer held on the third day of the tour. First there were three 40-kilometer laps, then a 20-kilometer lap was driven, half of which led over the most difficult climb of the entire tour, Willunga Hill . Ten thousand meters later, the finish line followed. A few attacks took place immediately after the start, but only Andrea Tafi from CSC and Nicolas Portal ( Ag2r Prévoyance ) finally managed to break away. After forty kilometers had been completed, Robbie McEwen , who had been second in the overall standings, gave up the race due to knee problems. With an air temperature of up to 44 ° C, the breakaway duo was able to gain an advantage of almost five minutes. Tafi won the two intermediate sprints of the day and thus climbed to the top of the points classification. At the beginning of Willunga Hill , however, Tafi and Portal were overtaken, while Cadel Evans was the first to pass the top of the hill and thus won the jersey of the best in the mountains. Then a top group of ten formed, from which the Italian Giampaolo Caruso attacked 3000 meters from the finish and was able to save a short bike-length advantage over the approaching pursuers around Steffen Wesemann over the finish line. Since the yellow jersey Fabio Sacchi was not represented in the top group, the Spaniard Mikel Astarloza took the overall lead.

Result 5th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Giampaolo Caruso		ONCE-Eroski	3:26:43 h
2.	Steffen Wesemann		Team Deutsche Telekom	same time
3.	Paolo Lanfranchi		Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo	same time
4th	Stuart O'Grady		Crédit Agricole	same time
5.	Lennie Kristensen		CSC	same time

Overall ranking after the 5th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Mikel Astarloza		Ag2r Prévoyance	15:25:36 h
2.	Lennie Kristensen		CSC	same time
3.	Giampaolo Caruso		ONCE-Eroski	+ 0:04 min
4th	Stuart O'Grady		Crédit Agricole	+ 0:05 min
5.	Xavier Florencio		ONCE-Eroski	+ 0:07 min

6th stage, Adelaide City Council circuit

At the end of the Tour Down Under 2003, as in previous years, a 90-kilometer circuit was on the program (20 laps of 4.5 kilometers each). In front of 60,000 spectators, the closed field reached the first intermediate sprint, in which the two Ag2r drivers Jaan Kirsipuu and Erki Pütsep relegated the Australian Stuart O'Grady to third, who was only able to make up for one bonus second on the overall leader Mikel Astarloza . After that, a twelve-man group around the former overall leader Fabio Sacchi was able to break away from the field, but was caught up again shortly afterwards. On the second intermediate sprint it was again Kirsipuu and team mate Mark Scanlon who captured the bonus seconds, while O'Grady missed out. In the final mass sprint, Graeme Brown secured his first stage win at the Tour Down Under 2003 after two second places and a disallowed first place, while Mikel Astarloza brought the yellow jersey to the finish line in front of the Dane Lennie Kristensen .

Result 6th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Graeme Brown		Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo	1:52:09 h
2.	Bathing Cooke		Française Des Jeux	same time
3.	Jaan Kirsipuu		Ag2r Prévoyance	same time
4th	Stuart O'Grady		Crédit Agricole	same time
5.	Tom Boonen		Quick Step - Davitamon	same time

Overall ranking after the 6th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Mikel Astarloza		Ag2r Prévoyance	17:17:45 h
2.	Lennie Kristensen		CSC	same time
3.	Stuart O'Grady		Crédit Agricole	+ 0:04 min
4th	Giampaolo Caruso		ONCE-Eroski	same time
5.	Paolo Lanfranchi		Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo	+ 0:06 min

Stage overview

stage	date	Start finish	km	Stage winner	Leader
1st stage	21th January	East End Adelaide Street Race	50	Bathing Cooke	Bathing Cooke
2nd stage	22nd of January	Jacob's Creek - Kapunda	140	Fabio Sacchi	Fabio Sacchi
3rd stage	January 23	Glenelg - Hahndorf	164	Robbie McEwen
4th stage	January 24th	Unley - Goolwa	144	Bathing Cooke
5th stage	January 25th	Willunga - Willunga	147	Giampaolo Caruso	Mikel Astarloza
6th stage	January 26th	Adelaide City Council circuit	90	Graeme Brown

Ratings

The point distribution was as follows:

2 intermediate sprints on each stage

1: 6 points, 3 seconds time bonus

2: 4 points, 2 seconds

3: 2 points, 1 second

target

1: 8 points, 6 seconds

2: 6 points, 4 seconds

3: 4 points, 2 seconds

Mountain ratings

1: 16 points

2: 12 points

3: 8 points

4: 6 points

5: 4 points

Ratings in the course of the tour

The table shows the leader in the respective classification after the respective stage.

	Overall rating	Scoring	Mountain scoring	Young talent evaluation	Team evaluation
1st stage	Bathing Cooke	Matt Wilson	-	Dirk Reichl	United Water
2nd stage	Fabio Sacchi	Fabio Sacchi	Russell Van Hout	Gene Bates	Ag2r Prévoyance
3rd stage		Andrea Tafi	Lennie Kristensen
4th stage		Robbie McEwen
5th stage	Mikel Astarloza	Andrea Tafi	Cadel Evans		ONCE-Eroski
6th stage

Final score

Once again, the Australians were the main actors at the Tour Down Under. Especially in the sprints, the locals dominated and made the respective stage wins among themselves. Unlike last year, when Robbie McEwen was still able to decide four stages of the day for himself, this time no single driver was able to achieve consistent victories. Instead, Graeme Brown , Baden Cooke and McEwen took turns at the top, with Brown being deprived of victory on day one due to unfair sprints. However, none of the three could secure the blue jersey of the best on points, whereby McEwen missed this title due to his abandonment during the fifth stage. The Italian Andrea Tafi benefited from a breakaway attempt on this very stage, where he was able to conquer the points in the intermediate sprints. On the other hand, an Australian was ahead in the mountain classification, namely Cadel Evans , who defended this title. A local also won the U-23 classification with Gene Bates .

In contrast, the battle for overall victory was very close. In the end, with the Spaniard Mikel Astarloza and Lennie Kristensen , two drivers were at the top at the same time, and due to the better stage placements, Astarloza finally secured the yellow jersey. The two-time winner of the Tour Down Under, Stuart O'Grady , on the other hand, missed decisive bonus seconds on the last day in order to pass. Thanks to his teammates from Ag2r Prévoyance , who kept O'Grady away from first place in the intermediate sprints, the Spaniard celebrated his first tour victory as a professional, while the Italian Fabio Sacchi , who was able to defend the yellow jersey for three days as in 2002, again came away empty-handed .

Web links

• Official website
• Results on Radsportseiten.net
• Reports and results on cyclingnews.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The first number (2) stood for "Etappenrennen"; the second number (3) for the third of five categories ranked by importance.