Still Tops: Andre Greipel Torches Competition for Santos Tour Down Under Stage 1 as Astana Forgets Race Radios

Andre "Gorilla" Greipel won the first stage of the Santos Tour Down Under yesterday, reaffirming himself as a favorite for the overall title. He benefited from staunch team support from his Columbia train, showing once again that he and the American-registered team will be one to reckon with throughout the season.

Meanwhile, Astana's favorite for the overall title Allan Davis was embarrassingly left behind the main group due his team forgetting to bring radios to the race. Davis was caught on a chase group while his teammates flew up the road without him, eliminating the defending champion for the overall on the very first day.

Greipel and team HTC-Columbia can now relax and concentrate on racing after accomplishing their pre-race goal of winning at least one stage. Bob Stapleton's bunch is never one that is satisfied with only one win though, so expect to see Greipel at the front of the field for the remaining stages. The only things standing between Greipel and several stage wins down under is his own team and whether they can remain strong enough to support him the rest of the race.

Allan Davis on the other hand is left far down the overall classification, and he'll now have to shift his attention to trying to take a stage win. His Astana team will likely support him for the remainder of the week, hoping to steal a win before the tour ends.

How a Pro Tour registered team can forget race radios for their team is unknown. Not only did they cost themselves a chance at the overall title, but now they'll be forced to work the rest of the Tour at a disadvantage. Their lack of communication back to the team car should show itself throughout the race, as further confusion is sure to occur.

Davis' problem during stage 1 will also support the UCI's claim that eliminating race radios will make for more dramatic racing. The lack of real-time instant information from race radios hurt Astana Down Under, and it will likely have a similar effect in future races as the radio ban is applied to all teams for select races. After seeing Davis off the back without communication, it is clear that taking race radios away will force teams to be more vigilant out on the road during each race.

The first stage of the first real race of 2010 gave the cycling world much excitement. Hopefully it will be sign for the rest of the year, and we'll witness one of the most exciting cycling seasons yet.