Tour Down Under: Freire brings to Katusha the first victory of 2012

First victory in the 2012 season for Katusha Team: Oscar Freire was the fastest in Tour Down Under´s fourth stage, from Norwood to Tanunda, decided by a bunch sprint. The Russian Team was active since the first kilometres of the race: Gatis Smukulis took part to the daily breakaway, which started after 28 kilometres from the start, reaching a peak of 4´. The escape was neutralized 30 kilometres on 130 to go, just before the beginning of the first category climb which characterized the stage´s profile: the mountain made a good selection in the group, leaving just 48 riders to fight for win on Tanunda´s finishing line. Katusha Team was able to take the group ahead under control thanks to the presence of Belkov, Florencio, Vorganov, Caruso and Freire: the latter, at the final sprint, was able to take a great victory defeating Gerald Ciolek (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Daniele Bennati (RadioShack-Nissan), respectevely second and third. In general classification, Freire moved to the second position together with Michael Matthews (Rabobank), 2´´ far from the new leader Martin Kohler (BMC): tomorrow´s stage, the last but one, will be crucial on the final result.