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Robbie McEwen in leader’s jersey in Santos Tour Down Under
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Team RadioShack’s Robbie McEwen will start in the ochre leader’s jersey in Stage 3 of the Santos Tour Down
Under. After two 3rd place finishes in the open days, Robbie McEwen claimed second place on Wednesday’s Stage 2 behind stage winner Ben Swift of Team Sky. Consistency paid off as bonus seconds and points placed him squarely in the race leader’s jersey on his third day of racing in the Team RadioShack jersey“It’s nice to be in the lead,” said McEwen after the stage. “I was gunning to win the stage and I went from quite a way out to try to spring the element of surprise through the inside at about 250m to go. Swifty came up with a really good lead out and won the stage so good on him. I managed to hold on for second and with the bonus seconds it’s a nice surprise to be leading.”
Several crashes created plenty of confusion and havoc in the closing kilometers, but McEwen found his way to the line. “ I just hope everyone from the crash is alright. There was gravel everywhere on the sides of the road as well as a line of gravel in the middle of the road," explained McEwen. "We came out of a left-hand corner and someone hit that strip of gravel piled up in the middle and went down with others going over the top. I saw HTC guys fall and one guy ran right into the back of another guy’s neck. It was so gravely; guys were slipping out all over the place. The finish wasn’t overly technical but it was purely the gravel that made it dangerous,” McEwen concluded.
Asked about his motivation in riding for a new team, McEwen continued with, “I’m always motivated. I think that’s something I’ve always been able to rely on throughout my career. I am always up to try and win and make the best of any situation. Especially with a new team it’s always good to impress them at the start and I’m just really, really motivated and enjoying my riding.
Result Stage 2 Santos Tour Down Under: Tailem Bend – Mannum, 146 K
1 Ben Swift; 2 Robbie McEwen (Team RadioShack); 3 Graeme Brown; 4 Romain Feillu; 5 Jürgen Roelandts; 6 Francesco Chicchi; 7 Michael Matthews; 8 Denis Galimzyanov; 9 Francisco Ventoso; 10 Allan Davis
General Classification after Stage 2
1 Robbie McEwen (Team RadioShack); 2 Matthew Goss; 3 Ben Swift; 4 Andre Greipel 0.04; 5 Mitchell Docker; 6 Graeme Browne 0.06; 7 David Tanner; 8 Mathieu Perget 0.07; 9 Miguel Minguez; 10 Simon Zahner
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