This was published 11 years ago
Tour Down Under - People's Choice Classic
German Marcel Kittel has won the curtain raiser to the Tour Down Under - the People's Choice Classic.
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The Team Giant-Alpecin rider stormed home on the streets of Adelaide after just over an hour of wheel-to-wheel action.
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Earlier, Aussie big guns Richie Porte and Cadel Evans lined-up side-by-side in the front row at the start of the race.
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Evans was racing in his last People's Choice Classic after announcing his retirement from the sport.
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He has been a wanted man by the world's media who are covering the southern hemisphere's great race.
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The field pushed away in cool conditions as the sun began to set over Adelaide.
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And quickly split as a breakaway rode to the front and began to steal a march on the peloton.
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Leaving the big guns, like Kittel, to bide their time and begin a strategy that would bear fruit in the last lap.
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The pressure was always on as the leaders set a frenetic pace over the 30-lap, 51km circuit.
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The speeds at times hid the fact this was just a curtain raiser to the six-stage main event.
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