Ventoso takes vaunted Willunga stage

Two days after Movistar gained its first win in its current guise at Argentina's Tour de San Luis, Francisco Ventoso has grabbed another victory, this time in Australia at the Santos Tour Down Under. The Spaniard narrowly beat Michael Matthews (Rabobank) and Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad) in a sprint along Willunga's Main Rd.

Goss' third place allowed him to peg back four seconds and he now sits eight seconds behind coutryman and Garmin-Cervelo's man in ochre, Cameron Meyer. Meyer went into the day needing to prevent his rivals gaining precious bonus seconds on offer in the intermediate sprints and the finish, which he and Garmin-Cervélo did, save for the four he reliquished at the end of the day.

"My team rode fantastically," said Meyer after the finish. [Matt] Goss took a few seconds back at the end but the team wanted to take the seconds on offer from the other sprinters today."

As for his chances of holding onto his race lead in tomorrow's 90km final stage around Adelaide's North Terrace, Meyer remains hopeful and will again look to his team to provide the platform for a solid performance.

"I'll have my fingers crossed that I can hold onto the jersey tomorrow - hopefully Tyler has the legs to get some time off the other sprinters," said Meyer, adding that Farrar "swapped off the front so well today - normally it's me doing that.

"The team rode beautifully and rode to the tactics we set at the start of the day. I'm confident - the legs are good and I hope it works out well tomorrow so we still have the jersey."

Willunga calling...

The penultimate day of this year's Tour Down Under began with massive expectations for a showdown on Old Willunga Hill, as Cameron Meyer took the leader's ochre jersey into the stage. He held a 10-second advantage over Laurens ten Dam (Rabobank) and 12 over countryman Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad).

The aim of the Garmin-Cervélo team at the start of the day was to negate the chances for the other sprinters - Goss in particular - to take bonus seconds on offer throughout the parcours and see what eventuated at the finish. The likes of Jack Bobridge, Tyler Farrar, Matthew Wilson and Meyer's brother Travis patrolled the front of the peloton to ensure this happened.

And that's how it eventuated; the day's main break went after five kilometres and consisted of eight riders, with Michael Hepburn (UniSA-Australia), Tanel Kangert (Astana), Davide Vigano (LEOpard-Trek), John Murphy (BMC Racing), Joost Van Leijin (Vacansoleil), Juan Horrach and Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) and Sebastian Haedo (Saxo Bank) making the move.

The octet was given 2:36 at its height but was always going to find the going tough to stay away on the first ascent of Old Willunga Hill and that's how it developed - the escapees fought out the points at both intermediate sprints before it was time for the major players to show their hand heading up to the KOM.

Mountains classification leader Luke Roberts consolidated his lead in the race for that title with maximum points at the top of Old Willunga Hill and soon after, along Range Road, an elite group of seven formed, containing Lance Armstrong - in his farewell to Australia - plus Movistar duo Luis Pasamontes and José Ivan Gutierrez and Katusha veteran Sergei Ivanov.

This selection never gained more than 20 seconds and by the second ascent of Old Willunga Hill it had been caught, replaced by a leading trio of Richie Porte (Saxo Bank), Ben Hermans (RadioShack) and Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervélo), who split the peloton with their solid attack and forced HTC-Highroad to chase hard.

Hayden Roulston and Goss managed to achieve this along McMurtie Rd for the final time, although they brought the likes of Simon Gerrans, Michael Matthews and Meyer with them to form a group of 20 heading into the finale. And 25 seconds behind them André Greipel and Allan Davis were in a group that was battling to regain contact with the front of the race.

One member of the leading group not expected to feature was Ventoso, but he sprung out of the pack with immaculate timing to hold off Matthews and Goss, who finished second and third respectively, in the process setting up a mouth-watering finale to this year's edition of the Tour Down Under tomorrow.

"This is a massive victory for me, but more important for the team," said Ventoso, whose palmares includes a stage of the 2006 Vuelta a España.

"We have a new sponsor this year and to win is really important. We can be calm for the rest of the year, now we have won a race," said Ventoso of his Movistar team that now leads the team standings ahead of Vacansoleil-DCM and Ag2R-La Mondiale.

"My legs today are stronger than other days. The crowds were incredible and the ambience is very special for cycling," he added.

As for Goss, he can take consolation in the fact he's still in the hunt for the overall win, with a team that has shown it's got the firepower to control a race.

"The day went alright, I ended up in the bunch I wanted to be in," said Goss. "It wasn't a perfect sprint for me I made a bit of a mistake. I tried to get on the side with less wind but I got close to the barrier a little bit.

"I still managed to get third and I'm a few seconds away from the lead so I'm there for a crack tomorrow.

"I can try and get some bonus seconds and try and get the win I've been so close all week. I've been in and out of the jersey so if the pattern keeps going the way it has it's my turn to get back into the jersey tomorrow," he explained.

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