McEwen clinches opening stage win

McEwen in in superb form at the moment after his win last weekend

Australian Robbie McEwen sprinted to victory in the opening stage of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide.

The 32-year-old held off the challenge of Liberty sprinter Allan Davis at the end of the 50km stage around two 25km laps of the city streets.

Olympic gold medallist Stuart O'Grady was third after seeing his challenge fade in the final 200m.

Britain's Olympic track hero Bradley Wiggins was 39th after finishing in the peloton, six seconds behind McEwen.

A crash on the final lap brought down around a dozen riders and caused drama late on.

McEwen's win follows his national title success on Saturday where he also beat O'Grady.

"We honestly didn't expect to do much here because I'm still feeling the effects of the national championships," said McEwen.

"At the end my teammates did a heap of work, they were in breakaways, and led the race in the last couple of laps."

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First stage
1. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 1hr 00min 45sec
2. Allan Davis (Aus) same time
3. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) s.t.
4. Baden Cooke (Aus) s.t.
5. Ruben Bongiorno (Arg) s.t.
6. Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) s.t.
7. Aaron Kemps (Aus) s.t.
8. Giosue Bonomi (Ita) s.t.
9. Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) s.t.
10. Gene Bates (Aus) s.t.