A sprinter was going to win. The only question before the race was as to which sprinter it was going to be and Tyler Farrar answered those questions with an exclamation point. But perhaps the even bigger question before the race even began was if there was even going to be a race.
Protesting of the UCI radio ban for all non ProTour events reached a new high on Sunday when the peloton delayed the race for nearly 20 minutes in protest of the UCI sanctions regarding race radio.
Furthermore, when the race did get underway most of the riders in the field were wearing the illegal headsets. The UCI announced that there would be no punishment to the riders that participated but the winners may not receive their prize money and points.But I don't really think that matters much to Tyler.
He was elated after the race to be able to put his less than desirable performance at the Tour Down Under behind him and get back on the winning track before the classics season gets into full swing. His acceleration at the finish line was enough to hold off Movistar's powerful sprinter Francisco Ventoso and Skil Shimano's Marcel Kittel.
There was a breakaway on the day, but they never really stood a chance on the dead flat course and were caught before the final lap even began. From there it was up to the sprint teams to pace the field but only Garmin was able to celebrate at the end of the day.
Final Podium1. Tyler Farrar
2. Francisco Ventoso
3. Marcel Kittel
other notables
(all at -s/t)
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas
11. Oscar Freire
28. Robbie McEwen
46. Jens Voigt
48. Luis Leon Sanchez
66. Gerald Ciolek
100. Christian Vandevelde
105. Tejay Van Garderen
120. Frank Schleck
147. Denis Menchov
157. Philippe Gilbert
168. Joaquin Rodriguez
177. Andreas Kloden
Trofeo Cala Millor
Should be another sprint tomorrow. The field should be able to recover from that small climb about 30 kms out but a few sprinters may potentially be dropped.
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