2010 Tour Down Under – Stage 5: Sanchez Takes Win Amidst Hot Racing Action

Caisse d’Epargne’s Luis Leon Sanchez claimed the victory in today’s Stage 5 at the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under.

Cycling’s superstars brought their racin’ legs today as they twice climbed the race’s tallest climb up Old Willunga Hill with Cadel Evans leading everyone up the second time ’round.  More than 100,000 of his countrymen cheered him on, and with 2k to go, Evans, Sanchez, Australian Luke Roberts (Milram) and Alejandro Valverde did their best to put some time on the main field, with both Evans and Sanchez trying to steal the Ochre Jersey away from André Greipel.

Evans said he didn’t want to lead out Sanchez, but decided it’s “better to play for something than to lose everything.”

In the end, Evans came in fourth for the day, and had it not been for a last minute surge by HTC-Columbia to bring Greipel closer to them, the race would have had it’s first overall leader change.  As it stands, Greipel finished just 9 seconds back, kept the lead and comes into Sunday’s final stage hoping to make 2010 his second overal win in the Tour Down Under.

“If you saw the pictures today on the television,” Greipel said, “you can see how hard it is to race your bike. But if you have some team members like I have, they are just so strong and you just need to stay on the wheel.

“They’ve supported me the whole week, and we’ve reached the goal. I think with a strong team like we have, we can hold onto the jersey.”

Lots of great racing, but we like those video words better than these typed words, so just hit play and see for yourselves.

Video highlights: 1:15 – female spectator’s beach shirt.

Hit ‘more’ for stage results…

2010 Santos Tour Down Under – Stage 5 Results:

1. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa), Caisse d’Epargne, 3:29:39
2. Luke Roberts (Aus), Milram, at 00:02
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa), Caisse d’Epargne, at 00:04
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), BMC Racing, at 00:04
5. Peter Sagan (Svk), Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:06
6. Markus Fothen (Ger), Milram, at 00:06
7. Sebastien Rosseler (Bel), RadioShack, at 00:06
8. Cameron Meyer (Aus), Garmin-Transitions, at 00:06
9. Greg Henderson (NZl), Sky, at 00:09
10. Fabio Sabatini (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:09
11. Robbie Hunter (RSA), Garmin-Transitions, at 00:09
12. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Katyusha, at 00:09
13. Jose Rojas (Spa), Caisse d’Epargne, at 00:09
14. Baden Cooke (Aus), Saxo Bank, at 00:09
15. Peter Mcdonald (Aus), UniSA-Australia, at 00:09
16. Julian Dean (NZl), Garmin-Transitions, at 00:09
17. Andre Greipel (Ger), HTC-Columbia, at 00:09
18. Daryl Impey (RSA), RadioShack, at 00:09
19. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 00:09
20. Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa), Footon-Servetto, at 00:09
21. Martin Elmiger (Swi), Ag2r-La Mondiale, at 00:09
22. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r-La Mondiale, at 00:09
23. Andriy Grivko (Ukr), Astana, at 00:09
24. Maciej Paterski (Pol), Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:09
25. Josep Jufre Pou (Spa), Astana, at 00:09
26. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus), Française des Jeux, at 00:09
27. Gorka Izagirre (Spa), Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 00:09
28. Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel), Quick Step, at 00:09
29. George Hincapie (USA), BMC Racing, at 00:09
30. Eduard Vorganov (Rus), Katyusha, at 00:09
31. Romain Sicard (Fra), Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 00:09
32. Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa), Footon-Servetto, at 00:09
33. Lance Armstrong (USA), RadioShack, at 00:09
34. Ivan Velasco (Spa), Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 00:09
35. René Mandri (Est), Ag2r-La Mondiale, at 00:09
36. Arthur Vichot (Fra), Française des Jeux, at 00:09
37. Ivan Gutierrez (Spa), Caisse d’Epargne, at 00:09
38. Cyril Dessel (Fra), Ag2r-La Mondiale, at 00:09
39. Perget Mathieu (Fra), Caisse d’Epargne, at 00:09
40. Thibaut Pinot (Fra), Française des Jeux, at 00:09
41. Gorazd Stangelj (Slo), Astana, at 00:09
42. Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa), Astana, at 00:09
43. Jens Voigt (Ger), Saxo Bank, at 00:09
44. Mikel Nieve (Spa), Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 00:09
45. Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu), RadioShack, at 00:09
46. Serguei Klimov (Rus), Katyusha, at 00:09
47. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), RadioShack, at 00:09
48. Hayden Roulston (NZl), HTC-Columbia, at 00:09
49. Rohan Dennis (Aus), UniSA-Australia, at 00:09
50. Matthew Lloyd (Aus), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 00:27
51. Michael Rogers (Aus), HTC-Columbia, at 00:37
52. Biel Kadri (Fra), Ag2r-La Mondiale, at 01:21
53. Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel), Katyusha, at 01:21
54. Juan Ripoll Horrach (Spa), Katyusha, at 01:35
55. Jack Bobridge (Aus), Garmin-Transitions, at 01:48
56. Anders Lund (Den), Saxo Bank, at 01:52

57. Matthew Goss (Aus), HTC-Columbia, at 01:52
58. Stef Clement (Ned), Rabobank, at 02:21
59. Koos Moerenhout (Ned), Rabobank, at 02:21
60. Graeme Brown (Aus), Rabobank, at 02:21
61. Christopher Sutton (Aus), Sky, at 02:21
62. Simon Clarke (Aus), UniSA-Australia, at 02:21
63. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 02:21
64. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus), UniSA-Australia, at 02:21
65. Thomas Frei (Swi), BMC Racing, at 02:21
66. Thomas Rohregger (Aut), Milram, at 02:21
67. Russell Downing (GBr), Sky, at 02:21
68. Gert Steegmans (Bel), RadioShack, at 02:21
69. Mickael Delage (Fra), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 02:21
70. Olivier Kaisen (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 02:21
71. Bernhard Eisel (Aut), HTC-Columbia, at 02:21
72. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita), BMC Racing, at 02:21
73. Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 02:21
74. Ben Swift (GBr), Sky, at 02:21
75. Timothy Roe (Aus), UniSA-Australia, at 02:21
76. Christian Meier (Can), Garmin-Transitions, at 02:21
77. David Vitoria (Swi), Footon-Servetto, at 02:21
78. Christopher Froome (GBr), Sky, at 02:21
79. Addy Engels (Ned), Quick Step, at 02:21
80. Allan Davis (Aus), Astana, at 02:21
81. Dominik Roels (Ger), Milram, at 06:23
82. Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa), Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 06:23
83. David Kemp (Aus), UniSA-Australia, at 06:23
84. Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda), Katyusha, at 06:23
85. Danilo Wyss (Swi), BMC Racing, at 06:23
86. Jason McCartney (USA), RadioShack, at 06:23
87. Kristijan Koren (Slo), Liquigas-Doimo, at 06:23
88. Karsten Kroon (Ned), BMC Racing, at 06:23
89. Gerben Lowik (Ned), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 06:23
90. Mauro Finetto (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo, at 06:23
91. Oscar Pereiro (Spa), Astana, at 06:23
92. Manuel Cardoso (Por), Footon-Servetto, at 06:23
93. Miguel Minguez (Spa), Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 06:23
94. Trent Lowe (Aus), Garmin-Transitions, at 06:23
95. Mikael Cherel (Fra), Française des Jeux, at 06:23
96. Mathew Hayman (Aus), Sky, at 06:23
97. Davide Vigano (Ita), Sky, at 06:23
98. Jos Van Emden (Ned), Rabobank, at 06:23
99. Juan Jose Haedo (Arg), Saxo Bank, at 06:23
100. Denis Galimzyanov (Rus), Katyusha, at 06:23
101. Valeriy Dmitriyev (Kaz), Astana, at 06:23
102. Stuart O’grady (Aus), Saxo Bank, at 06:23
103. Frank Hoj (Den), Saxo Bank, at 06:23
104. Martin Pedersen (Den), Footon-Servetto, at 06:23
105. Rick Flens (Ned), Rabobank, at 06:23
106. Nikolas Maes (Bel), Quick Step, at 06:23
107. Thomas Leezer (Ned), Rabobank, at 06:23
108. Ludovic Turpin (Fra), Ag2r-La Mondiale, at 06:23
109. Kevin Van Impe (Bel), Quick Step, at 06:23
110. Pierre Cazaux (Fra), Française des Jeux, at 08:07
111. Anthony Roux (Fra), Française des Jeux, at 08:07
112. Mauro Facci (Ita), Quick Step, at 09:19, at 08:07
113. Marcel Sieberg (Ger), HTC-Columbia, at 08:07
114. Thomas Vedel Kvist (Den), Quick Step, at 08:07
115. Michele Merlo (Ita), Footon-Servetto, at 08:07
116. Martin Kohler (Swi), BMC Racing, at 08:07
117. Michael Matthews (Aus), UniSA-Australia, at 08:07
118. Bert Grabsch (Ger), HTC-Columbia, at 08:07
119. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr), Française des Jeux, at 08:07
120. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo, at 08:07
121. Daniel Sesma (Spa), Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 08:07
122. Anthony Ravard (Fra), Ag2r-La Mondiale, at 08:07
123. Robert Forster (Ger), Milram, at 08:07
124. Kasper Klostergaard (Den), Saxo Bank, at 08:07
125. Björn Schroder (Ger), Milram, at 08:07
126. David Gutierrez (Spa), Footon-Servetto, at 08:07
127. Mathieu Drujon (Fra), Caisse d’Epargne, at 08:07
128. Matthew Wilson (Aus), Garmin-Transitions, at 08:07
129. Jose Garcia (Spa), Caisse d’Epargne, at 08:07