Tuesday 22 January 2013 15:31, UK
Andre Greipel delivered an emphatic victory on stage one at the Tour Down Under to take an early race lead.
After a brief three-man dig it was clear Jordan Kerby (Uni-SA) was highly motivated to make the break, the young Australian finally hitting out on his own to build up a gap of around seven minutes. The peloton began to keep tabs on things on the run up to the day's categorised climb at Checker Hill, Kerby taking the points and the jersey while the sprinters' teams chased behind. As the riders hit the undulating finishing circuit in Lobethal Jerome Pineau (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) struck out with 35km remaining, a tired Kerby eventually swept up as the pace increased. Pineau was caught at the final intermediate sprint in Charleston, world champion Gilbert jumping out of the peloton to pip him on the line for three potentially important seconds. From then on all eyes were on the finish, with a tough run-in taking its toll on a few big name sprinters. Yet when it came down to it there was no stopping Greipel who made things look supremely easy.
