2015 Tour Down Under, Jan 18-25 (2.uwt)

[austy37]

sorry Jan didn't mean to railroad you as you've obviously been through this before ( I haven't read all the other threads). I think the distance/not enough good riders thing is interesting, but is an extra 8 hours on a plane (as opposed to the US) once a year that big of a deal? Maybe it is I don't know. But I think deep down Oz deserves some sort of race, I mean a lot of aussie riders go to Europe and train, live, ride for euro teams, so I think we deserve a race here. But I suppose you could make that argument for Columbia, US etc. who have just as big a presence in the WT peloton.
Anyway its a good discussion, hopefully other good riders will come out to try and get some cheap points in the coming years as I know I look forward to the once a year time I can see the riders and even see a few pics in our local papers!

 

[stefank]

4. Location? BINGO! Australia is just way too far. Can you move Australia closer to Europe? Or move the race to Mallorca and call it Tour Down Under Mallorca Edition.

What does the "W" in "WT" stand for?

 

[Lupi33]

I wish I can improve my answers. 80% of the problem is the location and 20% of the problem is the early January. But look at Tour of San Luis. 2.1 race (3rd category) yet the field is way better than TDU including the current world champion. Why didnt he come to Australia since it is "world tour" rated event?

1. How do you make it better?
You have to be able to get better field to make it better. How? Well, since January in Australia is not appealing to Top riders you have to make it attractive some other way. Big cash prizes can do wonders. I really dont see any other option than to make this race the most lucrative event on the planet. $1 million prize money per stage

2. Timing? Looking at the current UCI calendar, unfortunately there is not any date that would make it better for racing in Australia.

3. Category? You cant downgrade it, nobody would show up.

4. Location? BINGO! Australia is just way too far. Can you move Australia closer to Europe? Or move the race to Mallorca and call it Tour Down Under Mallorca Edition.

What else you want to hear? That the only worse place for cycling event in January (or any other month) than Australia is Mars?

Hey, wait a minute, isn't that the reason the Aussie Championship is called "Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships" because it is like racing on Mars?

most of this thread seems to be you whingeing about this race.
what do you hope to achieve by ranting on a forum?

I've watched ToC several times. Nice scenery, good field, but totally boring race as everyone who is anyone treats it as a training run for the TDF and doesnt actually race.

It seems you're just a bit jealous that your local race isnt on the World Tour calendar. It must burn you that Canada has 2 races that are too.

have you asked the riders that go what they think of the race? no one is forced to go to a WT event, everyone has different objectives.

the Australian race is good preparation for the sprinters and classics riders leading into the Belgian season which they cant get in Europe because is either snowing or too #$#%#ing cold at this time.

its not quite as hot as you think either

also with much of the racing taking place in the nearby hills and lower coast its actually about 2 to 5 degrees cooler than that...whatever that is in your imperial measurement

 

[Lupi33]

What does the "W" in "WT" stand for?

evidently Australia isnt part of the same world

 

[Ferminal]

Love the annual Aussie wind up, it's only ok if we're giving ourselves ****.

 

[Lupi33]

I think the Northern Winter has made a lot of people very negative about life lately

 

[Roude Leiw]

Jancouver, as much as i respect your opinion, i thought there was a thread here

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=15514

To discuss the race which sucks the most in WT calendar.

I for one am happy that the season starts, nice enough race to kick things off and if i were a pro, riding in 30 degrees surely beats riding in freezing temperatures. Rode yesterday at 1 degrees here in luxembourg, would be happy to ride in that aussie weather to build up my form

 

[Jancouver]

As for nobody doing this race:

BMC RACING TEAM (USA)

EVANS, Cadel AUS
SCHÄR, Michael CHE
STETINA, Peter USA
WYSS, Danilo CHE
DILLER, Silvan CHE
FLAKEMORE, Campbell AUS
DENNIS, Rohan AUS

ORICA GREENEDGE (AUS)

Meyer, Cameron AUS
CLARKE, Simon AUS
DURBRIDGE, Luke AUS
HEPBURN, Michael AUS
HAYMAN, Mathew AUS
BEWLEY, Sam NZL
IMPEY, Daryl RSA

TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN (GER)

KITTEL, Marcel GER
GESCHKE, Simon GER
CRADDOCK, Lawson USA
DE KORT, Koen NED
DUMOULIN, Thomas NED
TIMMER, Albert NED
HAGA, Chad USA

TEAM SKY (GBR)

PORTE, Richie AUS
KENNAUGH, Pete GBR
ROWE, Luke GBR
STANNARD, Ian GBR
PUCCIO, Salvatore ITA
THOMAS, Geraint GBR
SUTTON, Chris AUS

LOTTO-SOUDAL (BEL)

DE GENDT, Thomas BEL
BAK, Lars DEN
DOCKX, Gert BEL
DEHAES, Kenny BEL
HANSEN, Adam AUS
HENDERSON, Greg NZL
VALLEE, Boris BEL

CANNONDALE-GARMIN PRO CYCLING (USA)

HESJEDAL, Ryder CAN
HAAS, Nathan AUS
HANSEN, Lasse DEN
BAUER, Jack NZL
HOWES, Alex USA
MOSER, Moreno ITA
VILLELLA, Davide ITA

TREK FACTORY RACING (USA)

ALAFACI, Eugenio ITA
COLEDAN, Marco ITA
DIDIER, Laurent LUX
MCCONNELL, Daniel AUS
NIZZOLO, Giacomo ITA
ROULSTON, Hayden NZL
WATSON, Calvin AUS

TINKOFF-SAXO (DEN)

ROGERS, Michael AUS
BRUTT, Pavel RUS
BOARO, Manuele ITA
JUUL JENSEN, Christopher DEN
KOLAR, Michal SVK
ZAUGG, Oliver SUI
HANSEN, Jesper DEN

AG2R LA MONDIALE (FRA)

POZZOVIVO, Domenico ITA
DUMOULIN, Samuel FRA
DOMONT, Axel FRA
KADRI, Blel FRA
RIBLON, Christophe FRA
BERARD, Julien FRA
GOUGEARD, Alexis FRA

ASTANA PRO TEAM (KAZ)

SANCHEZ, Luis Leon ESP
BOOM, Lars NED
CATALDO, Dario ITA
MALACARNE, Davide ITA
TLEUBAYEV, Ruslan KAZ
WESTRA, Lieuwe NED
DE VREESE, Laurens BEL

KATUSHA (RUS)

BELKOV, Maim RUS
CARUSO, Giampaolo ITA
LAGUTIN, Sergey RUS
MACHADO, Tiago POR
SELIG, Rudiger GER
TCATEVICH, Aleksei RUS
ISAICHEV, Vladimir RUS

FDJ.fr (FRA)

ROY, Jérémy FRA
JEANNESSON, Arnold FRA
LE GAC, Olivier FRA
MANZIN, Lorrenzo FRA
PINEAU, Cédric FRA
CHAVANEL, Sébastien FRA
VEIKKANEN, Jussi FIN

MOVISTAR TEAM (ESP)

CAPECCHI, Eros ITA
FERNANDEZ, Ruben ESP
IZAGUIRRE, Gorka ESP
LASTRAS, Pablo ESP
LOBATO, Juan Jose ESP
HERRADA, Jose ESP
SANZ, Enrique ESP

IAM CYCLING (SUI)

ELMIGER, Martin SUI
CLEMENT, Stef NED
HAUSSLER, Heinrich AUS
KLUGE, Roger GER
GOMEZ, Jarlison Pantano COL
REYNES, Vicente ESP
TANNER, David AUS

ETIXX-QUICKSTEP (BEL)

BOUET, Maxime FRA
DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO, David ESP
LAMPAERT, Yves BEL
MEERSMAN, Gianni BEL
SERRY, Pieter BEL
VELITS, Martin SVK
RENSHAW, Mark AUS

LOTTO NL-JUMBO (NED)

BENNETT, George NZL
LINDEMAN, Bert NED
ROOSEN, Timo NED
MARKUS, Barry NED
KEIZER, Martijn NED
TJALLINGII, Maarten NED
FLENS, Rik NED

LAMPRE MERIDA (ITA)

BONIFAZIO, Niccolo ITA
BONO, Matteo ITA
CIMOLAI, Davide ITA
DURASEK, Kristijan CRO
FERRARI, Roberto ITA
MORI, Manuele ITA
GRMAY, Tsgabu ETH

Sure, it's not a GT start list but not bad all the same. A lot of those guys have raced the TDU pretty regularly as well they hate it so much Some strong teams for this time of the year.

Are you kidding?
Can you take a time and list all the major results from 2014 for all the riders you have highlighted?

It shouldn't take you long as the list will be VERY short because the only real name on that list is Kittel.

 

[Jspear]

Are you kidding?
Can you take a time and list all the major results from 2014 for all the riders you have highlighted?

It shouldn't take you long as the list will be VERY short because the only real name on that list is Kittel.

What about Hesjadal, Evans, Porte, Pozzovivo? I could have actually looked at the list and probably listed even more...

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Spare us for your endless whining and go play in the Sagan thread please.

 

[ILovecycling]

Are you kidding?
Can you take a time and list all the major results from 2014 for all the riders you have highlighted?

It shouldn't take you long as the list will be VERY short because the only real name on that list is Kittel.

Oh my god,what problem do you have with australia?...this is some unbelievable whining with pathetic arguments.

 

[cineteq]

ALERT: useless whining is being observed in this thread.

 

[Jancouver]

ALERT: useless whining is being observed in this thread.

No whining here, just responding to attacks and requests to be more detailed about how to "improve" this race.

For obvious reasons most Aussies are in denial and wont accept any negative opinion therefore will attack anyone with negative (but honest) opinion.

Enough wasted time so lets all agree that this is the greatest bike race ever

 

[Der Effe]

This race sucks, is it March already?

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Honestly, I think TDU is a pretty decent race. I look forward to it every year.

 

[Der Effe]

I wouldn't be surprised if there's no race due to even the riders not bothering showing up.

 

[MatParker117]

No whining here, just responding to attacks and requests to be more detailed about how to "improve" this race.

For obvious reasons most Aussies are in denial and wont accept any negative opinion therefore will attack anyone with negative (but honest) opinion.

Enough wasted time so lets all agree that this is the greatest bike race ever

Make better use of the Terrain and replace the ending crit with a short TT maybe?

 

[Jspear]

No whining here, just responding to attacks and requests to be more detailed about how to "improve" this race.

For obvious reasons most Aussies are in denial and wont accept any negative opinion therefore will attack anyone with negative (but honest) opinion.

Enough wasted time so lets all agree that this is the greatest bike race ever

I ain't no Aussie mate. And I don't think this is the greatest bike race ever. That doesn't mean I have to go to the opposite extreme and say this is a terrible race with a bad field...

I do wish they'd stick a TT in this race - that would definitely shake up things GC wise.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I have to agree, I should have blamed UCI for not making the TV coverage and online streams mandatory for all WT events.

Its so pathetic that in 2015 where every dumb %$#$ on YouTube is capable of having live shows and streaming is so easy that when you have what supposedly is a top race in multi-billion dollar industry and you have no coverage.

Where is the Velon group? It should be their priority and their responsibility to promote all sponsors during these WORLD TOUR races.

No wonder cycling is so far behind when the UCI and most teams are run by business amateurs.

Teams should say, " We only go to Australia, China etc if you put these races on TV and make them available online so our sponsors can benefit from us racing there."

Just PATHETIC!

people have no idea how much it costs to broadcast a cycling race I might try and explain it to you if I wasn't so unsure about your brain comprehending it

 

[Jancouver]

I ain't no Aussie mate. And I don't think this is the greatest bike race ever. That doesn't mean I have to go to the opposite extreme and say this is a terrible race with a bad field...

I do wish they'd stick a TT in this race - that would definitely shake up things GC wise.

Seems like most people would be happy if I would just soften the the words and call things in a way that would make every Aussie and every cycling fan that doesn't care about the race quality happy.

The race is not terrible > the race is just awful.
The race field is not bad > the field is just bellow average
The race course is boring
The race stages are too short
The race weather (usually) is too hot for bike racing (therefore short stages)
The race environment is unappealing
The race is amateurishly organized
The race TV coverage is unsatisfactory (because is amateurishly organized)
The race is too far for most teams
The race is at the wrong time
The race is is Aussies Nationals 2.0
The race fans are obnoxious and unfriendly
The race is attended by WT teams because it is mandatory
The race should be downgraded to 2.1
The race should be moved to another continent or cancelled

TT would not help as it would make the race boring anyway because the race would be targeted by just a few TT specialist ... therefore boring.

 

[pastronef]

Seems like most people would be happy if I would just soften the the words and call things in a way that would make every Aussie and every cycling fan that doesn't care about the race quality happy.

The race is not terrible > the race is just awful.
The race field is not bad > the field is just bellow average
The race course is boring
The race stages are too short
The race weather (usually) is too hot for bike racing (therefore short stages)
The race environment is unappealing
The race is amateurishly organized
The race TV coverage is unsatisfactory (because is amateurishly organized)
The race is too far for most teams
The race is at the wrong time
The race is is Aussies Nationals 2.0
The race fans are obnoxious and unfriendly
The race is attended by WT teams because it is mandatory
The race should be downgraded to 2.1
The race should be moved to another continent or cancelled

TT would not help as it would make the race boring anyway because the race would be targeted by just a few TT specialist ... therefore boring.

cycling fans are very hard to please, very hard. there is a WT race in January after months of nothing, new teams with new signings, new bikes sponsors, summer racing, fast racing. and still it is not good enough. maybe not so entertaining, but please, even "cancelled"!
the organizers have been working hard for YEARS to get the race bigger, it's the official opening for many riders and all the teams.

 

[Jancouver]

cycling fans are very hard to please, very hard. there is a WT race in January after months of nothing, new teams with new signings, new bikes sponsors, summer racing, fast racing. and still it is not good enough. maybe not so entertaining, but please, even "cancelled"!
the organizers have been working hard for YEARS to get the race bigger, it's the official opening for many riders and all the teams.

I agree with everything you said about the new season, new bikes, sponsors etc.

I even agree that the organizers have been trying for years to make the race better and the race got slightly better by introducing the Wilunga Hill ...

... however

That does NOT meant that everything I stated about the race is accurate and honest and 99% of cycling fans would agree with me if the race was not the first race of the season when everyone is excited about the new season (including me) and being the first real race of the season is the only positive about this race.

 

[Jancouver]

Tour of San Luis (2.1) race is now live on YouTube ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3LzRj9wTh0

So it is possible in Argentina but not possible in Australia?

Bite me

 

[Dazed and Confused]

please, you are making a fool of yourself.

 

[ray j willings]

Blimey, the season is underway .

I never liked anyone riding a Evo