McKenzie wins the final stage

The Linda McCartney-Jacob's Creek team took their first wonderful win of 2001, when David McKenzie stormed to a brilliant victory on the last stage of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under.

100,000 screaming South Australians roared Macca to another famous win, as Adelaide closed off it's beautiful parkland city centre to welcome the survivors of this excellent race. It was a double celebration for the delirious crowd, as local icon Stuart O'Grady burgled the two-second bonus he needed to snatch his second Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under in two years.

"I felt good all day, and I was confident that I could do something," said David, as he gathered his breath and thoughts after another sizzling 40-degree ride in the sun.

The pace was high from the start, with at least five men still harbouring dreams of winning overall. The first bonus sprint was always going to be pivotal, and O'Grady was strong enough to take the precious two seconds on offer to the man second over the line. Then, to his immense relief, a break went clear with none of his main rivals able to make the split, and he watched in glee as they sailed off to pick up the remaining bonuses awaiting the riders, thus guaranteeing his overall victory.

Dave McKenzie was also eyeing the move. "I thought that it might well work, so I jumped out of O'Grady's group and spent a lap bridging across to them," he explained. It was a tremendous effort to reach the leaders, but not content to sit on the advantage over the main pack, Macca immediately set about driving his new group on. With Macca forcing the pace, their lead steadily grew, until it breached three minutes with around 35kms left to

Macca receives his reward

race. It seemed that the race was O'Grady's for sure, and the 25-man lead group could fight over the spoils of the stage.

"I knew I would have a good chance if it came down to a sprint between us, but there were too many variables for my liking," said David. With that in mind, he set about tearing the group apart with attack after attack. His first explosion of power reduced the group to nine, and victory was looking a distinct possibility. Still not content with the odds, he waited until there were two 4.5km laps of the circuit remaining, and then gunned for victory alone. Resurrecting the beautiful image of his superb lone victory in last year's Tour of Italy, Macca steadily increased his lead over the stricken chasers to send the home crowd into raptures on the line, and give Linda McCartney-Jacob's Creek their first win in their first race of the year.

Report by John Deering