No more Aussie domination in Tour Down Under, says boss

TOUR Down Under boss Mike Turtur has warned the days of Australian domination in the annual cycling race are over.

Mike Turtur

TOUR Down Under boss Mike Turtur has warned the days of Australian domination in the annual cycling race are over as the host nation recorded its worse ever result in the WorldTour opener won by a Dutch rider on the rise.

For the first time in the 15-year history of the Tour an Australian rider has failed to make the podium or even crack the top 10 overall in the six-day tour which finished in Adelaide yesterday when unvaunted, but now highly respected, Tom Jelte Slagter became the first Dutchman to win the Tour.

Australia's hopes of going out with a bang were dashed by the big engine of German strongman Andre Greipel who yesterday raced off with his 100th career win and record 14th Tour Down Under stage with his defeat of Bathurst rider Mark Renshaw in the 90km street circuit finale.

It meant Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) was the best placed Australian in 16th place overall with just three local riders in the top 25 and no Australian managing to secure a major jersey this year with the sprinters crown going to Welsh rider Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), the young riders title going to Slagter (Blanco) and the King of the Mountain mantle to Spaniard Javier Moreno (Moviestar).

If not for Orica GreenEDGE rider Simon Gerrans' fighting win in front of 125,000 in the tough fifth stage of the Tour on Saturday it would have also been the first time in the history of the race a local had not won a stage.

"It's been a pretty disastrous tour for the Australians to be honest this week. Simon thankfully picked up the pieces," said former rider and multiple Tour de France stage winner Robbie McEwen during his commentary of the finale.

Turtur said Australian riders are still at the top of the world game but long gone are the days where locals were better prepared for the first Tour of the year thanks to a summer of intense racing and their ability to race in Adelaide's January dry heat.

Now riders are preparing for the race in Europe at training camps with many teams sending their top guns to Australia well in advance to acclimatise to the often brutal conditions.

"The days are gone when Australians featured prominently because they were the fittest. We know for a fact that all the European teams that have come here have had two to three training camps. That is unheard of,'' he said.

"That has been consistently happening in the last five years. They are coming here ready to go because the (WorldTour) points are on offer. A lot of them came earlier as well.

"We should not get upset. No one in the top 10 is the first time but its a cycle of things. Simon (Gerrans) winning eased the pain a bit."

There was double disappointment for Australians riding on Team Sky with Sydney's Chris Sutton and Matt Hayman both riding for tour leader Geraint Thomas before he failed to fire on the penultimate Willunga Hill stage on Saturday and lost the Ochre leaders jersey.

"We all went to war and we gave it everything," Sutton said.

"We went down swinging."

Fellow Australians Graeme Brown , Jack Bobridge and Renshaw were luckier, part of Slagter recording the biggest win of his career with his victory over Moreno and Thomas.

"He's not bad for a young tacker," said former dual Olympic gold medallist Brown, who courageously rode to the finish despite painful arm, wrist and back injuries collected in a high-speed crash on Friday.

Not quite making it to the end was 2010 Tour de France winner Andy Schleck who pulled the pin in yesterday's race due to bike issues.

On the comeback from injury, Schleck was in 127th place _ second last _ going into yesterday's sixth and final stage.