Robbie McEwen has come out of retirement, albeit briefly, for the second year in a row to win the Subaru Australia Open Criterium in Noosa, Australia, on Saturday. The man charged with mentoring the Orica-GreenEdge sprint squad clearly takes his job very seriously, to the point of showing those under his command just how it is done.
On the narrow hot-dog circuit McEwen proved that his bike handling skills have not dropped off in the slightest as he negotiated his way through the bunch to take the final sprint by a whisker ahead of Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge) and Jonathan Cantwell (Saxo-Tinkoff).
The race was highlighted by regular aggression from McEwen, Howard, Sagan, Cantwell and Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) amongst others. Although Sagan faded to finish seventh, surely his lengthy season finally taking its toll, he still delighted the 20,000 fans present with a post-race wheelie alongside the victorious McEwen.
In the women's event it was reigning NRS champion Katrin Garfoot who won the sprint to the line ahead of Wiggle Honda's newest signing Peta Mullens with the Australian Criterium Champion Kimberly Wells (Specialized Securitor) rounding out the podium.
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Robbie McEwen (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge |
| 2 | Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge |
| 3 | Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Saxo-Tinkoff |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Katrin Garfoot (Ger) QAS |
| 2 | Peta Mullens (Aus) Wiggle Honda |
| 3 | Kimberly Wells (Aus) Specialized Securitor |
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