Queensland's Robbie McEWEN, 30, (Lotto - Domo) today unleashed a blistering sprint into Hahndorf to claim victory on Stage 3 of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under in a near dead heat with Sydney's Graeme BROWN, 24, (Ceramiche Panaria - Fiordo).

McEWEN, the 2002 Tour de France sprint champion and world ranked number four, was awarded the win after officials viewed the finish photo which split the pair by less than a centimetre. South Australian Stuart O'GRADY was close behind in third place.

"I had a feeling I'd won and I was fairly confident but you can't go running around claiming it," said McEWEN after his win was confirmed. "You've just got to wait for the judges to have a look at the photo."

McEWEN and BROWN are far from friendly rivals and on the opening stage of this year's Tour BROWN crossed the line first but was relegated to last place when officials ruled he did not hold his line and impeded McEWEN's sprint.

After being penalised a brash BROWN boasted that he would beat McEWEN the next time but his more experienced rival demonstrated why he is considered one of the world's best sprinters timing his final lunge to perfection to shut down BROWN's challenge.

"I was able to see on some television pictures that I'd started to throw for the line first and that gave me a pretty good idea that I'd got it," said McEWEN. "As a sprinter sometimes in a very close finish you're not quite sure if you've won but if you've lost you do know.

"When he (BROWN) rides a straight line you can see what he can do," said McEWEN. "He's done a very good sprint today and I think if he can keep going in one direction in the sprint he'll be good."

BROWN was philosophical in defeat and admitted a grudging respect for McEWEN.

"As much as I dislike Robbie he is a true champion and he's one of the best in the world so to just be up there mixing it with him is great," said BROWN. "I stuffed up a bit as I didn't see the signs but I'm not making any excuses (because) Robbie did it perfectly."

"Oh well - Sunday," he added signalling his intention to try and outpace McEWEN in the final stage.

The 164km longest stage of this year's Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under set off from the beach side Adelaide tourist suburb of Glenelg where fans turned out in force to cheer the 94 strong international field on their way.

"International and interstate tourists were out in force with locals as Glenelg hosted the Breakfast with the Stars," said Belinda DEWHIRST, General Manager, Australian Major Events. "The riders travelled under controlled conditions right through the heart of Adelaide as office workers, families and shoppers flocked to the road side to view the spectacle."

The flag dropped for the action to begin outside the Adelaide SuperDrome and the cyclists wasted no time and the attacks came thick and fast in the first 30 kilometres of the day. But the Saeco team of overnight race leader, Italian Fabio SACCHI with help from Stuart O'GRADY's Credit Agricole team, was quick to close them down.

At the bottom of Checker Hill, the 38 kilometre mark, the peloton was all together. Victorian Cadel EVANS (Telekom) churned his way up the climb to claim 16 points in the Laubman & Pank King of the Mountain classification as first over the summit but it was third across the line, Lennie KRISTENSEN (DEN - CSC) who claimed the category lead and will wear the jersey tomorrow.

"The mass of people who arrived early at the mountain to secure the best possible vantage point were vocal and enthusiastic as they urged on their favourite riders," said Ms DEWHIRST. "I'm sure the cyclists appreciated the support."

After the climb a group of 8 riders established a lead. Amongst them was Italian Andrea TAFI (CSC) who despite a bandaged wrist as a result of a crash yesterday came through to claim the first SA Lotteries intermediate sprint at Mt Torrens (62km).

"Some die hard cycling fans, who had travelled from New South Wales, were very excited to see one of their favourite Italian cyclists claim the points on the line," Ms DEWHIRST said.

TAFI, with the overall sprint title in his sights, then surged to the front 20 kilometres later to win the second sprint in Balhannah and in the process took over the SA Lotteries Sprint classification lead.

The eight leaders extended their advantage to 3min30sec before the big guns in the field reacted and the chase began. The pace told on the lead group which whittled to five as TAFI and two others lost contact with the leaders. Saeco continued to do the lion's share of the work and 15 kilometres from the finish the remaining leaders were back with the main field setting up a sprint showdown for the finish.

"And what a finish it was," said Ms DEWHIRST. "95,000 people came out to see the action today along the course and in Hahndorf the crowds were incredible."

"There was overwhelming support for the event today and the vibrant atmosphere reached it's peak when the world's best cyclists thundered down Main Street treating fans to a thrilling finish," said Ms DEWHIRST.

The stage results did not impact on the overall lead with SACCHI still wearing the Jacob's Creek Leader's Jersey but McEWEN has narrowed the gap to ten seconds.

Third across the line after today's 3hr 53min 04sec stage, O'GRADY, has now moved to eighth overall, 27 seconds behind SACCHI.

Stage 3 - January 23, 2003: Glenelg - Hahndorf, 164 km:

1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo                     3.53.04 (42.2 km/h)
2 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo
3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole
4 Allan Davis (Aus) ONCE Eroski
5 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon
6 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon
7 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est)  Ag2R
8 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom
9 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R
10 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R
11 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
12 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA
13 Stefen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom
14 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole
15 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC
16 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE Eroski
17 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R
18 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) CSC
19 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) CSC
20 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA
21 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quickstep-Davitamon
22 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom
23 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R
24 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com
25 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Panaria Fiordo
26 David Canada (Spa) Quickstep-Davitamon
27 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole
28 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
29 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole
30 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2R
31 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC
32 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Panaria Fiordo
33 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon
34 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole
35 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Telekom
36 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole
37 Christian Werner (Ger)  Telekom
38 Joerg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport
39 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC
40 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA
41 Gianpaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski
42 Patrick Jonker (Aus) UniSA
43 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE Eroski
44 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger)  Telekom
45 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water
46 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R
47 Mickael Pichon (Fra) FDJeux.com
48 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com
49 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R
50 Stefan Schumacher (Ger)  Telekom
51 Bobby Julich (USA)  Telekom
52 Christian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
53 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water
54 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole
55 Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski
56 Scott Davis (Aus) Panaria Fiordo
57 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE Eroski
58 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC
59 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon
60 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water
61 Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex) Panaria Fiordo
62 Stephen Cunningham (Aus) UniSA
63 Sergey Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria Fiordo                 0.11
64 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Domo
65 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com
66 Brad McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com                          0.13
67 David Betts (Aus) United Water                       0.48
68 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto Domo                     0.50
69 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport                1.12
70 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport
71 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport
72 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski
73 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport
74 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto Domo
75 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto Domo
76 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Domo
77 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com
78 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) United Water                30.18
79 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC
80 Ruben Bongiorno (Arg) Panaria Fiordo
81 Filippo Perfetto (Ita) Panaria Fiordo
82 Julian Dean (NZl) CSC
83 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Domo
84 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water
85 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto Domo
86 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep-Davitamon
87 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com
88 Jacky Durand (Fra) FDJeux.com
89 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water
90 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA
DNF Lee Godfrey (Aus) United Water
DNF Corey Sweet (Aus) Credit Agricole
DNF Jay Sweet (Aus) UniSA
DNF Brett Aitken (Aus) UniSA

Overall rankings after stage 3:
1 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport             8.24.342 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto Domo                        0.103 Cedric Herve (Fra) Credit Agricole                    0.184 Andy Flickinger (Fra) Ag2R                            0.205 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R6 Lennie Kristensen (Den) CSC7 Russell Van Hout (Aus) UniSA                          0.238 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole                  0.279 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE Eroski10 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Telekom                       0.2811 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE Eroski                      0.2912 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quickstep-Davitamon13 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) CSC14 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) CSC15 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) CSC16 Luke Roberts (Aus) UniSA17 Gene Bates (Aus) UniSA18 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom19 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Panaria Fiordo20 Patrick Jonker (Aus) UniSA21 Gianpaolo Caruso (Ita) ONCE Eroski                   0.3022 Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole                     0.3123 David Canada (Spa) Quickstep-Davitamon               0.3324 Mark Scanlon (Irl) Ag2R25 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon26 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Credit Agricole27 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R28 Stefen Wesemann (Ger) Telekom                        0.3929 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJeux.com                      0.4030 Brad McGee (Aus) FDJeux.com                          0.4231 Alvaro Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski        0.5932 Andrea Tafi (Ita) CSC                                1.5933 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom                            2.0534 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon35 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep-Davitamon36 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJeux.com37 Erki Putsep (Est) Ag2R38 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Ag2R39 Joerg Ludewig (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport40 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R41 Christian Werner (Ger)  Telekom42 Regis Lhuillier (Fra) FDJeux.com43 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger)  Telekom44 Christopher Jenner (NZl) Credit Agricole45 Bobby Julich (USA)  Telekom46 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE Eroski47 Scott Davis (Aus) Panaria Fiordo48 Peter Dawson (Aus) United Water                      2.1449 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Domo                      2.1650 Sergey Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria Fiordo51 Graeme Brown (Aus) Panaria Fiordo                    2.3152 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Lotto Domo                     2.5553 David Betts (Aus) United Water                       3.0254 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport             3.1755 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport56 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Lotto Domo57 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Spa) ONCE Eroski58 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Lotto Domo59 Stephen Cunningham (Aus) UniSA                      11.3360 Allan Davis (Aus) ONCE Eroski                       11.3461 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est)  Ag2R62 Nicola Gavazzi (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport63 Mark Renshaw (Aus) United Water64 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Panaria Fiordo65 Mickael Pichon (Fra) FDJeux.com66 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Credit Agricole67 Stefan Schumacher (Ger)  Telekom68 Christian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport69 Brendan Cato (Aus) United Water70 Arvis Piziks (Lat) CSC71 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole72 Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex) Panaria Fiordo73 Davide Bramati (Ita) Quickstep-Davitamon74 Matt Wilson (Aus) FDJeux.com                        12.4575 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport              12.4676 Dario Pieri (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport77 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Lotto Domo78 Adrian Laidler (Aus) UniSA                          30.5179 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep-Davitamon              32.3280 Ashley Hutchinson (Aus) United Water                41.5081 Ruben Bongiorno (Arg) Panaria Fiordo                41.5282 Julian Dean (NZl) CSC83 Aaron Kemps (Aus) United Water84 Filippo Perfetto (Ita) Panaria Fiordo85 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto Domo86 Jakob Piil (Den) CSC87 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) United Water88 Nick Gates (Aus) Lotto Domo89 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJeux.com90 Jacky Durand (Fra) FDJeux.com