RABOBANK SCORES STAGE WIN AT PROTOUR SEASON OPENER

FOUR PODIUM APPEARANCES AND A STAGE WIN FOR BROWN IN AUSTRALIA

The Rabobank Cycling Team scored its first major victory of the season at the Tour Down Under, the opening event of the 2009 ProTour. Riding the new Giant TCR Advanced SL, Rabobank’s Graeme Brown won the third stage of the January 18-25 stage race in Australia.

With the support of his Rabobank team, Brown contested most of the sprints in the six-day race, adding two second-place finishes and a third-place finish for a total of four podium appearances in six days. The Aussie’s win came on a frantic day that saw several crashes and a dramatic breakaway that was chased down by Rabobank.

As the opener to the season-long ProTour—and the only ProTour event outside of Europe—the Tour Down Under is seen as the first major test of the season. Nineteen of the world’s best teams competed in the 802-kilometer race, which concluded on Sunday.