Cadel Evans misses out on Tour stage

Australian cycling star Cadel Evans honoured the world champion's famed rainbow
jersey and won widespread praise after the greatest day in Tour Down Under history.
Lance Armstrong and world cycling boss Pat McQuaid were among those applauding Evans
(BMC) after he threatened to snatch the overall lead on the decisive fifth stage at
Willunga, south of Adelaide, before finishing fourth.
But it was also an outstanding effort from race leader Andre Greipel and his HTC
Columbia team.
They led the chase of the potentially-decisive break that featured Evans, and
Greipel eventually maintained his race lead ahead of Sunday's final stage.
Another star was Australian Luke Roberts, who made a superb solo effort to finish
second on the stage and improve to third overall.
A crowd of 119,000, a record for Willunga, witnessed world-class racing.
It will go down as one of the finest days in Australian cycling history.
"Let's hope the world championships (in Melbourne and Geelong later this year) top
it," Evans said.
"But yeah, it was something (else) out there, wasn't it?"
Organisers had live television coverage of the Willunga stage for the first time and
the crowd at the finish line were able to watch the race on two big screens.
The noise at the finish was incredible as fans watched Evans start the key break
with a solo attack on the second of two climbs up Willunga Hil, which is usually
where the Tour title is decided.
Evans then combined with Caisse d'Epargne team-mates Alejandro Valverde and Luis
Leon Sanchez and gutsy Slovakian Peter Sagan.
It was a star-studded break - Valverde has won the Tour of Spain and Sanchez won the
Tour Down Under in 2005.
They were nearly caught in the last kilometre, with Sanchez winning the stage and
Evans finishing fourth.
Evans has had his detractors, but he deservedly won the most aggressive rider for
the stage and he will have many more fans after Saturday's efforts.
Armstrong, who was 33rd at Willunga, said cycling's so-called curse of the world
champion's rainbow jersey will not befall the Australian.
"He won't suffer the infamous curse of the rainbow jersey this year," Armstrong said.
"He's going to be strong ... he has a new team, good guys around him, a lot of
incentive."
Last September, Evans became the first Australian to win the men's elite road race
world title.
McQuaid was at Willunga and was rapt to see the rainbow jersey helping to light up
the race.
"You won't get (the) quality of racing that we saw in the last 10km, very rarely,
anywhere," he said.
"I'm absolutely happy - it does warm the cockles of my heart, to see him out there
in the jersey, up there in the front position, fighting for the lead, not just
rolling around.
"It's superb, he's a great champion."
Of the four breakaway riders, Evans was the best-placed on the overall standings.
He was 26s behind Greipel and the gap to the main bunch reached 33s with less than
10km left.
Sanchez was at 30s, so the pair would have fought for the race lead had they
maintained the margin.
But the peloton, which included Greipel, were only a few metres behind at the finish.
Thanks to time bonuses, Sanchez is now second overall and 11s behind Greipel ahead
of Sunday's final stage, the Adelaide street race, while Evans improved to fifth at
21s and Roberts is at 17s.
The overall Tour lead has only changed once on the last day in the event's 12-year
history.
Greipel is set to join Adelaide's Stuart O'Grady as the only two-time Tour champions.