Today it all comes to what should be an exciting conclusion with Elmiger just 1 second ahead of Menzies, and a number of other riders within seconds of the lead as well.

There is more wind & rain in Adelaide today, and I left my bike on the other side of town, so it looks like I’ll be reporting back from in front of the TV rather than from the race. Well done to 10 for showing the final stage live, next time a nightly highlights package would be great as well though.

UPDATE 13:45 CST – The race is underway, looks like plenty of people weren’t put off by the weather and have gone out to see it. On the TV coverage Phil Liggett was commenting on the uncharacteristic Adelaide weather and suggested, as the riders went alongside the Torrens, that in normal conditions here everyone would be wanting to jump in for a swim! He obviously hasn’t seen it up close then.

UPDATE 14:12 CST – Getting close to the first sprint, just over a lap. The UniSA team are all up front and aren’t letting anyone get away, so they can get their man Karl Menzies a time bonus to put him back in front of the GC. Current GC leader Elmiger isn’t far off the front.

14:23 CST – Elmiger won the sprint! His AG2R team attacked the UniSA riders on Montifiore hill and from there Elmiger sat on Menzies’ back wheel down to the sprint, while there was a bit of confusion at the UniSA riders tried to ensure that Menzies would get the points, Elmiger made a move up the outside around McEwen who was also in there. Unfortunately for Menzies his teammate Allan Davis looks to have crossed second (despite a desperate last minute attempt to pull his bike back), so Elmiger should have extended his lead by a couple of seconds. The next sprint will be on lap 12, the UniSA boys are going to need a big effort to keep Menzies in it.

14:46 CST – Brochard won the second sprint to give him a good lead in the points classification (which appears to be a blue, rather than green, jersey). He was part of a 12 man breakaway which didn’t include anyone from the head of the GC. There was also a KOM but it wasn’t really contested and didn’t involve anyone who could threaten current KOM leader Dumoulin .

Now the field are all back together.

15:22 CST – McEwen won the final sprint but there is a chance of a protest, so it’s not official yet. There is no doubt, however, that Martin Elmiger is the overall winner with a lead of 3 seconds over Karl Menzies, thanks to his fantastic sprint on the eighth lap, and also his third place finish yesterday.

FINAL RESULTS (almost) – it’s official, Robbie McEwen is the stage 5 winner. Laurent Brochard was the best sprinter, Simon Clarke the best you rider, and SouthAustralia.com/AIS were the best team. I’m not sure whether Serge Pauwels or Samuel Dumoulin is the King of the Mountains – it is all a bit confusing because there was a sprint for it on the wrong lap.

UPDATE: I can confirm that Pauwels did win KOM.