Steele Von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) again showed that he has some good condition right from the beginning of the season when he finished 3rd on the opening stage of the Tour Down Under. Having used his strong team to wear down the opposition on the Menglers Hill, Von Hoff was only beaten by Simon Gerrans and Andre Greipel and is happy to see that his legs are good as he tries to take a stage win in his biggest home race.

In the Australian national championships, Steele Von Hoff gave the mighty Orica-GreenEDGE team a reason to worry when the strong sprinter made it into the big breakaway that dominated most of the race. Despite the best efforts from Simon Clarke and Luke Durbridge, the biggest Australian team was unable to get rid of the fast finisher and this prompted the team to bring things back together for their pre-race favourite Simon Gerrans.

In that race, Von Hoff proved that he was climbing really well and this was an important confidence boost ahead of the Tour Down Under. Today he again showed his good condition when he was one of only very few sprinters to make it over the Menglers Hill on the first stage of the Australian race.

Confident in his own form, Von Hoff asked his teammate Nathan Haas to set a hard pace up the climb in an attempt to get rid of his fast rivals and the mission was partly successful. However, Andre Greipel and Simon Gerrans both survived the climb and in the uphill sprint, that duo was a bit too fast for Von Hoff who could only manage 3rd.

However, Von Hoff was just happy to again show some good condition and is hopeful that things will go his way later in the week.

"We had really good teamwork today," he said. "They rode for me all day. The sprint was very hard. I didn't quite have the legs to come around Gerro [ Gerrans]. The legs are going well, so we're hoping for a good week. Third is not bad. It shows I'm in good condition."

Von Hoff will get his next chance in tomorrow's uphill sprint in Stirling which could suit the in-form Australian.