Victorian Baden COOKE, 24, (FDJeux.com) led the field home in today's fourth stage of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under narrowly beating Sydney's Graeme BROWN, 24, (Ceramiche Panaria - Fiordo) and South Australian Stuart O'GRADY (Credit Agricole) in a furious sprint to the line.

COOKE, who was awarded the Stage One win after BROWN was relegated to last place when officials ruled he did not hold his line and impeded the sprint of Robbie McEWEN (AUS - Lotto Domo), this time made sure he was first over the line and a clear winner.

"It's the second win of the year with a bit of controversy surrounding the first one," said COOKE., "Today I saw Ashley HUTCHINSON (AUS - United Water) take the inside run (in the final metres) which was the shortest way round but after seeing what Brownie did on Tuesday I decided to go the long way around because otherwise I'm sure he would have stepped into me."

COOKE told media after the stage that the 40 degree plus heat had been draining for everyone.

"I think I drank 12 bidons (bottles of water) today and was even forcing it down just to keep my fluids up," said COOKE.

"85,000 fans braved the scorching heat and some even sprayed the grateful riders with garden hoses as they passed by," said Belinda DEWHIRST, General Manager, Australian Major Events.

But while COOKE claimed the honours on the line it was 21 year old South Australian Adrian LAIDLER (UniSA) who was then hero of the day.

The race set off from the Adelaide suburb of Unley which was still celebrating after last night's fabulous Street Party where an estimated 15,000 people enjoyed food, wine and dancing in the street.

"Unley was absolutely a-buzz this morning," said Ms DEWHIRST. "Fans enjoyed breakfast and the unique opportunity to grab autographs from and chat with their heroes."

The festive atmosphere was still in force as the 90 riders headed out under race neutral conditions.

The race proper began at the Old Toll Gate and Glen Osmond and almost immediately LAIDLER, the recently crowned Australian U/23 road time trial champion, launched a solo attack off the front.

LAIDLER, who began the day ranked last on the overall standings after sacrificing his rear wheel for team mate Patrick JONKER, and being forced to chase the field home, established an impressive leading margin as the main bunch let him go.

"I sort of regretted it the minute I got away but once you're out there you have to do it," said LAIDLER who at one stage was more than ten minutes clear of the race.

He cleaned up the maximum points at the Echunga sprint (26km ) and again in Langhorne Creek ( 64.8km) where McEWEN led the field across for second place which gave him the lead in the SA Lotteries Sprint Classification plus a two second time bonus that moved him closer to SACCHI in the battle for the overall win.

After more than 100 kilometres on his own setting a driving pace in front LAIDLER began to fade. "I think Saeco (team of race leader Fabio SACCHI) controlled it really well and just left me out there to blow myself up."

But the bunch did not aggressively chase LAIDLER down. In fact several riders including O'GRADY, McEWEN and SACCHI said after the stage they thought the young rider deserved the win but LAIDLER did not have the energy to go on in front.

"At the end they just wound it up when I had no legs to bring it home," he said. "But it was definitely worth a shot."

His efforts were appreciated those who lined today's route and as LAIDLER went through Goolwa for the first time the fans who had flocked to the town gave him a rousing reception.

He was caught at the approach to the climb at Macfarlane Hill (132km) where Denmark's Lennie KRISTENSEN (CSC) was first over the summit to increase his lead in the Laubman & Pank King of the Mountain classification.

The next time the field entered Goolwa it was fifty riders in a group speeding down Cadell Street.

At the end of the day Italian Fabio SACCHI held on to the Jacob's Creek Leader's jersey but his margin over McEWEN is now eight seconds.

Stage 4 - January 24, 2003: Unley - Goolwa, 144 km:

1 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com                       3.33.59 (40.4 km/h)
2 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo
3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole
4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo
5 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) United Water
6 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon
7 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA
8 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R
9 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est)  Ag2R
10 Allan Davis (Aus) ONCE Eroski
11 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R
12 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R
13 Stefen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom
14 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water
15 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water
16 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R
17 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC
18 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom
19 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA
20 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole
21 Christian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
22 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE Eroski
23 David Canada (Spa) Quickstep-Davitamon
24 Bobby Julich (USA)  Telekom
25 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole
26 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quickstep-Davitamon
27 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
28 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Domo
29 Gianpaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski
30 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC
31 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2R
32 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon
33 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Panaria Fiordo
34 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Telekom
35 Patrick Jonker (Aus) UniSA
36 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA
37 Joerg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport
38 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom
39 Brad McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com
40 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R
41 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE Eroski
42 Stefan Schumacher (Ger)  Telekom
43 Christian Werner (Ger)  Telekom
44 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R
45 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE Eroski
46 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole
47 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC
48 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) CSC
49 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger)  Telekom                      0.10
50 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com                      0.14
51 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com                     0.16
52 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport              0.23
53 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC                               1.55
54 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole                     3.47
55 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto Domo
56 Stephen Cunningham (Aus) UniSA
57 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Domo
58 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto Domo
59 David Betts (Aus) United Water
60 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski
61 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole
62 Julian Dean (NZl) CSC
63 Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski
64 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) CSC
65 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Panaria Fiordo
66 Scott Davis (Aus) Panaria Fiordo
67 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water                       4.05
68 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water
69 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA                           7.11
70 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water                      7.15
71 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon
72 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
73 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
74 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon
75 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
76 Ruben Bongiorno (Arg) Panaria Fiordo
77 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Domo
78 Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex) Panaria Fiordo
79 Filippo Perfetto (Ita) Panaria Fiordo
80 Jacky Durand (Fra) FDJeux.com
81 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole
82 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC
83 Mickael Pichon (Fra) FDJeux.com
84 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com
85 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport
86 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com
87 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto Domo
88 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto Domo
89 Sergey Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria Fiordo
DNF Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep-Davitamon

Overall rankings after stage 4:

1 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport            11.58.332 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo                        0.083 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R                            0.174 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole                    0.185 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R                            0.206 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC7 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA                          0.238 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole                  0.259 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE Eroski                    0.2710 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA                             0.2811 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Telekom12 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quickstep-Davitamon             0.2913 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE Eroski14 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA15 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC16 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) CSC17 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom18 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Panaria Fiordo19 Patrick Jonker (Aus) UniSA20 Gianpaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski                   0.3021 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R                              0.3322 David Canada (Spa) Quickstep-Davitamon23 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon24 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R25 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole26 Stefen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom                        0.3927 Brad McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com                          0.4228 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com                      0.5429 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com                         1.5930 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC31 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon                 2.0532 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom33 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2R34 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R35 Joerg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport36 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R37 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole38 Bobby Julich (USA)  Telekom39 Christian Werner (Ger)  Telekom40 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE Eroski41 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger)  Telekom                      2.1542 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Domo                      2.1643 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com                     2.2144 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo                    2.2745 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport              3.4046 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) CSC                       4.1647 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole                     4.1848 Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski        4.4649 Scott Davis (Aus) Panaria Fiordo                     5.5250 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto Domo                     6.4251 David Betts (Aus) United Water                       6.4952 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Domo                   7.0453 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski54 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon               9.2055 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water                      9.2956 Sergey Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria Fiordo                 9.3157 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport            10.3258 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto Domo59 Allan Davis (Aus) ONCE Eroski                       11.3460 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est)  Ag2R61 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water62 Christian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport63 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water64 Stefan Schumacher (Ger)  Telekom65 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC                              13.2966 Stephen Cunningham (Aus) UniSA                      15.2067 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Panaria Fiordo                15.2168 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole69 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto Domo                     16.3370 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport            18.4971 Mickael Pichon (Fra) FDJeux.com72 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole73 Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex) Panaria Fiordo74 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon75 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com                        20.0076 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport               20.0177 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport78 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA                          37.5679 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) United Water                41.5080 Julian Dean (NZl) CSC                               45.3981 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water                      45.5782 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water83 Ruben Bongiorno (Arg) Panaria Fiordo                49.0784 Filippo Perfetto (Ita) Panaria Fiordo85 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Domo86 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC87 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com88 Jacky Durand (Fra) FDJeux.com89 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto Domo