Roadside cars blamed as final rush brings carnage

RIDERS hit parked cars in a horrific crash yesterday during the frantic run to the finish in Tanunda.

RIDERS hit parked cars in a horrific crash yesterday during the frantic run to the finish in Tanunda.

In the crash-marred Stage 4 of the Santos Tour Down Under, at least 15 riders came down in three incidents.

Graeme Brown suffered skin grazing and an injured wrist in one crash. He had X-rays on his left wrist, which revealed no break, and he has vowed to continue the race.

One witness to the biggest and final crash in the home straight said one rider clipped a parked white station wagon and another smacked into a black car as the bunch sprint was winding up.

Riders came down heavily near the Tanunda finish line after a relatively calm day led to what stage winner Andre Greipel dreads - a massive bunch sprint finish with heavy traffic.

The peloton also avoided parked cars about 3km from the finish after Argos-Shimano's Swedish rider Jonas Ahlstrand clipped a roadside barrier. He crashed before jumping back on the bike to catch the tail end of the peloton.

Lotto-Belisol's Greg Henderson apparently avoided the carnage but vented on Twitter after leading his teammate Greipel to his second stage win of this year's TDU.

"Seriously tho (sic) bloody parked cars in the final 2k. That's just dangerous for a bunch sprint someone needs to have a think about the final," he tweeted.

Greipel yesterday claimed the TDU's stage wins record with 13 victories, after equalling Australian Robbie McEwen's 12 wins on Tuesday when he won Stage 1 from Prospect to Lobethal.

The German said the finish was dangerous because riders were "very fresh" after pedalling for 126.5km.

"I hope all the crashed riders are OK," Greipel said.

"I heard already that there was some bad (injured) people there.

"The team kept me out in the front and kept me out of trouble.

"The stages are short, everybody is trying to keep the guys on the front and trying to do the sprint. The head wind is everywhere the same - once you're in the slipstream you're OK."

TDU race director Mike Turtur said the final crash happened in the middle of the road and riders made contact with the parked cars afterwards.

He said cyclists had 2½ lanes to race in and the cars did not cause the incident.

Just before Eden Valley - 29.6km from the finish line - the main peloton sparked into action with average speeds of 62km/h, as Greipel closed in after his team worked him into cranking up his powerful legs.

The peloton was then twitchy 8km from Tanunda with small attacks from the main peloton after UCI road world champion Philippe Gilbert and SA's UniSA youngster Damien Howsen attacked from the start.

Amid jangled nerves, the race was all together about 6km from Tanunda as Orica-GreenEDGE and Lotto-Belisol controlled the peloton preparing their lead-out trains for the final burst of speed.

The race then became ruthlessly brutal as teams jostled for position before the final straight.

Other riders who were involved in crashes during the day included Orica-GreenEDGE's Matt Goss and Daryl Impey and UniSA-Australia's Zak Dempster and Bernard Sulzberger.

STAGE 4 RESULTS

1. GREIPEL, A (GER) Lotto Belisol 3:02:52
2. FERRARI, R (ITA) Lampre-Merida st
3. CANTWELL, J (AUS) Saxo-Tinkoff st
4. FENN, A** (GBR) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step st
5. MARKUS, B** (NED) Vacansoleil-DCM st
6. KITTEL, M (GER) Argos-Shimano st
7. RENSHAW, M (AUS) Blanco st
8. van HUMMEL, K (NED) Vacansoleil-DCM st
9. DEMARE, A** (FRA) FDJ st
10. LODEWYCK, K (BEL) BMC st

Europcar Most Competitive Rider

GILBERT, P (BEL)BMC
HOWSON, D** (AUS)UNI SA - Australia

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. THOMAS, G (GBR)Sky Procycling 12:59:09
2. SLAGTER, T** (NED)Blanco 0:05
3. MORENO BAZAN, J (ESP)Movistar 0:06
4. HERMANS, B (BEL)Radioshack Leopard 0:08
5. IZAGIRRE, G (ESP)Euskaltel Euskadi 0:15
6. IZAGIRRE, I** (ESP)Euskaltel Euskadi st
7. BAUER, J (NZL)Garmin Sharp st
8. MACHADO, T (POR)Radioshack Leopard st
9. HANSEN, A (AUS)Lotto Belisol st
10. BENNETT, G** (NZL)Radioshack Leopard st

Skoda King of the Mountain

1. BOBRIDGE, J** (AUS)Blanco 20 points
2. THOMAS, G (GBR)Sky Procycling 16 points
3. MORENO BAZAN, J (ESP)Movistar 14 points

Jayco Sprint

1. GREIPEL, A (GER)Lotto Belisol 30 points
2. THOMAS, G (GBR)Sky Procycling 29 points
3. GILBERT, P (BEL)BMC 28 points

Cycle Instead Young Rider

1. SLAGTER, T** (NED)Blanco 12:59:14
2. IZAGIRRE, I** (ESP)Euskaltel Euskadi 0:10
3. BENNETT, G** (NZL)Radioshack Leopard st

Hindmarsh Winning Team Jersey

1. Radioshack Leopard 38:58:09
2. Movistar 1:22
3. Lotto Belisol 1:52