Irish champion Brammeier (far left) signing on with his Omega Pharma-Quickstep team
Matt Brammeier’s first major race of the 2012 season has gotten off to something of an unlucky start, with a crash in the final kilometre of the first stage of the Tour Down Under derailing his team’s lead out train.
Temperatures were so hot on this morning’s stage that Brammeier got through eighteen bottles on the 149km run from Prospect to Clare near Adelaide.
While the terrain was flat, soaring temperatures in the high 40s and significant headwinds and tailwinds for much of the stage made for some pretty difficult and uncomfortable conditions for the riders.
At certain points the wind was so strong that the peloton was riding but still doing less than 20kph.
Brammeier’s Omega Pharma-Quickstep team were to the fore during the stage and the Irish champion said they had ridden well until the crash, taking up much of the running on the front for the final 15kms.
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However, just as Brammeier pulled over after doing his last lead-out turn with around 1km to go, carnage struck as riders came down in a pile-up at the head of the charging peloton with around 800m to the finish.
Both Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s sprinters Gert Steegmans and Gerald Ciolek hit the deck meaning any hope of a win or good result were lost. However, they are both believed to be fit to start tomorrow.
German fast man Andre Griepel (Lotto-Belisol) emerged form the mess to take the opening stage, a repeat of his pre-race criterium win at the weekend.
Brammeier said but for the spill at the head of the bunch, he felt is team could have gotten a result. He was credited with the same time as the peloton despite being held up by 1:40 in the crash.
Tomorrow is a 148km run into Stirling. The route is harder than today’s flat stage, with the finish on top of a small climb after a final 10km which is mostly uphill.
Video of the finishing straight crash at Santos Tour Down Under, spectator hit (from Channel 9 in Australia)
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