GRAEME BROWN TAKES STAGE THREE

In the third stage of the Tour Down Under, Rabobank’s Graeme Brown outsprinted a field of more than 40 riders in the final charge to the finish of a wild and windy race. Riding the Giant TCR Advanced SL Team Bicycle, Brown survived fierce winds and a powerful breakaway—including 7-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong—to claim the victory and keep second place on the podium, with the same time as leader Allan Davis of Quick Step. Defending champion Andre Greipel of Team Columbia crashed during the stage, and had to leave the race with a dislocated shoulder.

In comments reported on cyclingnews.com, Brown said: "Hats off to my team – it's definitely a team victory. There was an awesome break up the road that had all the names that should have been in it but I geed the boys up a bit – they just rode unreal. They put themselves in line and they were tired, then at the end Matty Hayman did an unreal job.

"I think I proved myself yesterday on a fairly tough circuit – they had full confidence in me, so thank you very much Rabobank. I've got really good form, and every time there's a sprint I want to win. This was a really tough stage and finish, and I knew it was a good opportunity for me."

Teammate Mat Hayman was the last man to take Brown to the line, and after the rest of the team had worked hard on the front of the bunch to control the gap to the leaders, the Australian finished the job for his countryman to sprint to the line and celebrate a great victory.

"Today was the hardest day of the tour so far. It was like Mission Impossible, with 10 of the best riders up the road that group had every good rider," said Hayman. "The start today was vicious. I was speaking to guys and they said it was like a Tour de France stage. It just didn't stop – crashes, and the wind… it was chaos."

A complete report and photos from the stage can be found at:
www.cyclingnews.com