Frank Schleck (Trek) faced his first big test after coming back from suspension on the Corkscrew climb in today's third stage of the Tour Down under but the Luxembourger was unable to keep up with the best and lost more than a minute. Sports director Kim Andersen admitted that the team had had two lofty expectations and instead it was veteran Jens Voigt who put the team in the spotlight by his participation in the day's breakaway.

When he arrived in Adelaide for the Tour Down Under, his first race after serving a suspension for a positive test for Xipamide at the 2012 Tour de France, Frank Schleck stressed that he was eager to go, felt good, and expected to be competitive. When the race hit its first serious climb on stage 3, the Corkscrew Road, it was, however, back to reality for the Luxembourgish star.

Schleck was unable to keep up with the best and finished in the third big chase group, losing 1 minute to stage winner and new overall leader Cadel Evans (BMC). Instead, it was his compatriot Laurent Didier who was the best Trek rider in the race as he ended the stage in the second chase group.

Sports director Kim Andersen admitted that the team had probably expected too much from Schleck in his first race back.

“It was like everyone expected it was a critical stage,” he said. “The team worked great to get Fränk into position but he exploded on the climb. We had high expectations – maybe too high after one and half years without racing – he was missing race intensity. No disappointment about the day, it’s just back to reality.”

The 146.2-kilometer stage began with three riders escaping from the gun. Jens Voigt decided to bridge to the trio making a bid for a possible stage victory. However, with Orica-GreenEdge controlling the pace the quartet hovered out front with no more than a few minutes gap the entire time. A few kilometers from the decisive Corkscrew climb the break was finally absorbed.

“Sometimes you can call me the Elvis of breakaways and you have to live up to your reputation, you have to show your face at least once in race and show that the old dog still has some teeth,” said Jens Voigt, explaining his reason to bridge to the breakaway. “For the normal rider like me, that is not a sprinter or a climber, it was today and tomorrow to pick for a breakaway. I pretty much knew that we were dead meat out there from the beginning but I love to try the impossible, that’s just me. What should I wait for - to get popped on the last climb?  I would rather go out and give it a go; give them a run for their money.”

Voigt was rewarded for his efforts by being given the most aggressive rider award.

"I picked today’s stage to break away because nobody else did but I knew that it was close to impossible to go for the stage win," he said. "We never had more than two and half minutes lead because Andrey Grivko was at 21 seconds (off the overall lead), he wouldn’t get any freedom. 

"I might be getting old but I still have high expectations about myself," he added. "It’s because of self respect that I feel obliged to show my face to the people. I don’t want to be just a number in the bunch. On the road side, every second or third spectator yelled my name. The crowd has enjoyed the show, apparently!"

Tomorrow's stage is expected to suit the sprinters, meaning that Trek will now turn their attention to Danny Van Poppel.