Hot racing coming up in Australia

[Jagartrott]

Re:

They dont just get back to Europe straight, most of them just go to canary islands or south of spain where its still pretty hot to continue training, considering how classics riders use TDU to start their season it should be clear its not a bad start at all

There actually aren't that many classics riders that race at the TDU.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

I think this race is important to Australia and Australians, but not much more.
It has the wrong place on the calendar, also climate-wise. Baking your a**e off and then racing in Europe in cool or even cold conditions - it's hard on your physiology.

Really there is no alternative time of the year to hold the race and it ties in with the Sun Tour, Cadel Evans race and the Australian Road Championships. They get the Australian races out of the way and don't have to return. It makes sense in that way and it's a good prep race for later races especially considering the weather in Europe. The heat can be bad but not much worse than they get in the Vuelta sometimes. The riders seem to like the shorter stages and lack of big climbs at this time of the season. It would make no sense to have a Tour of Utah race or something similar at this stage of the year.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Stage 4, another sprint by the usual protagonists?

More of a drag up to the line so a chance for Haas, Macarthy, Gerro et al to feature
Sagan probably > Ewan here too

The perfect sprint for Ewan is when the last 500 metres goes up 3 or 4% - This is when he can beat the big guns of sprinting.

 

[el chava]

Re: Re:

Did I miss anything?

Not really.

It's the Tour Down Under. The blandest of all races. Wait to the real races start.

 

[Lupi33x]

No podium girls any more. This race is on its last legs.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Caleb just before crossing the line first:

Ultra low position.

 

[barmaher]

Re: Re:

They dont just get back to Europe straight, most of them just go to canary islands or south of spain where its still pretty hot to continue training, considering how classics riders use TDU to start their season it should be clear its not a bad start at all

There actually aren't that many classics riders that race at the TDU.

Indeed. Going back to 2010, I looked at winners of the spring monuments (28 races in total).

Only four winners of a spring monument had raced in the TDU earlier that season. Unsurprisingly, all of them were Australian (Gossy, Gerro x 2 and Hayman).

 

[Valv.Piti]

I haven't watched the stages live, but a mistake this year from the organisation seems to be the very predictable racing - there are basically 4 flat stages and 2 HTFs. I'd like to see them create at least one intermediate stage pr. edition with chances of something happening from, say, 10-15 km out or just to shell some of the peloton before a sprint. This year seems very boring in that aspect and tbh, badly created.

 

[El Pistolero]

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

I haven't watched the stages live, but a mistake this year from the organisation seems to be the very predictable racing - there are basically 4 flat stages and 2 HTFs. I'd like to see them create at least one intermediate stage pr. edition with chances of something happening from, say, 10-15 km out or just to shell some of the peloton before a sprint. This year seems very boring in that aspect and tbh, badly created.

This year has definitely been boring. At least last year there was a GC battle (between strongmen and climbers) and the puncheurs were able to duke it out.

In case you don't get to watch the next two stages, I'll let you know who the winners are. Porte and Ewan.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

I could agree with the first sentence, but for many different reasons. How is this a valid reason?

 

[Netserk]

Re:

I haven't watched the stages live, but a mistake this year from the organisation seems to be the very predictable racing - there are basically 4 flat stages and 2 HTFs. I'd like to see them create at least one intermediate stage pr. edition with chances of something happening from, say, 10-15 km out or just to shell some of the peloton before a sprint. This year seems very boring in that aspect and tbh, badly created.

It didn't help that they dropped Corkscrew Hill on the stage to Campbelltown, and especially that they didn't have Stirling as a stage finish for the first time since 2008.

 

[Jancouver]

Re: Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

I could agree with the first sentence, but for many different reasons. How is this a valid reason?

For example the WC participation is awarded based on WT points and clearly here, the Australians have a clear advantage over other nations by holding an WT event that far away, during winter in Europe and North America and in weather conditions that discriminate majority of nations.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

I could agree with the first sentence, but for many different reasons. How is this a valid reason?

For example the WC participation is awarded based on WT points and clearly here, the Australians have a clear advantage over other nations by holding an WT event that far away, during winter in Europe and North America and in weather conditions that discriminate majority of nations.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant.

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

I could agree with the first sentence, but for many different reasons. How is this a valid reason?

For example the WC participation is awarded based on WT points and clearly here, the Australians have a clear advantage over other nations by holding an WT event that far away, during winter in Europe and North America and in weather conditions that discriminate majority of nations.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant.

I'm sorry. Fair enough.

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

I could agree with the first sentence, but for many different reasons. How is this a valid reason?

For example the WC participation is awarded based on WT points and clearly here, the Australians have a clear advantage over other nations by holding an WT event that far away, during winter in Europe and North America and in weather conditions that discriminate majority of nations.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant.

I'm sorry. Fair enough.

Well, if we'd be talking about amateurs, the reasoning would be spot on.
I'd say the discriminance of races is pretty much equal across the calendar and globe.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

That's the UCI's fault not the organizers. Australian crowds would still turn out for the race and the tourist dollars would still be good but not as many European teams would show up. It would not effect the race or racing much but the field wouldn't be as good. The same would happen with the Cadel Evans race.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

I haven't watched the stages live, but a mistake this year from the organisation seems to be the very predictable racing - there are basically 4 flat stages and 2 HTFs. I'd like to see them create at least one intermediate stage pr. edition with chances of something happening from, say, 10-15 km out or just to shell some of the peloton before a sprint. This year seems very boring in that aspect and tbh, badly created.

Maybe a split stage with a short time trial like they used to do in the Criterium International would not be a bad idea. The format is stale and finishing in Adelaide with a criterium is always an anti climax but because of that they should tweak the other stages a bit more.

 

[Wilba60]

Re: Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

I could agree with the first sentence, but for many different reasons. How is this a valid reason?

For example the WC participation is awarded based on WT points and clearly here, the Australians have a clear advantage over other nations by holding an WT event that far away, during winter in Europe and North America and in weather conditions that discriminate majority of nations.

First thing to consider is that there are a number of other Southern Hemisphere countries who enjoy their "home" climates and training in their own country (NZ, South Africa, South America, etc). Plus if you use that logic for the remaining 98% of the cycling season Southern Hemisphere riders have to race during their winter, on the other side of the world, away from family or transferring family, etc. So having 1, now 2 races out of a whole season where they don't have to transplant themselves doesn't seem like an unfair advantage.

 

[MatParker117]

Re: Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

I could agree with the first sentence, but for many different reasons. How is this a valid reason?

For example the WC participation is awarded based on WT points and clearly here, the Australians have a clear advantage over other nations by holding an WT event that far away, during winter in Europe and North America and in weather conditions that discriminate majority of nations.

Based on the UCI World Ranking now.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

I could agree with the first sentence, but for many different reasons. How is this a valid reason?

For example the WC participation is awarded based on WT points and clearly here, the Australians have a clear advantage over other nations by holding an WT event that far away, during winter in Europe and North America and in weather conditions that discriminate majority of nations.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant.

The other World Tour teams know when it's on and how many points are allocated. It doesn't have to mean easy points for Australian riders if they don't want it to.

Porte, Greipel, Evans, Gerrans, Slagter, Ulissi, Valverde, Goss, Thomas and others have shown that it's possible to have a good TDU and still race well later in the year.

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Re: Re:

I think this race is important to Australia and Australians, but not much more.
It has the wrong place on the calendar, also climate-wise. Baking your a**e off and then racing in Europe in cool or even cold conditions - it's hard on your physiology.

Really there is no alternative time of the year to hold the race and it ties in with the Sun Tour, Cadel Evans race and the Australian Road Championships. They get the Australian races out of the way and don't have to return. It makes sense in that way and it's a good prep race for later races especially considering the weather in Europe. The heat can be bad but not much worse than they get in the Vuelta sometimes. The riders seem to like the shorter stages and lack of big climbs at this time of the season. It would make no sense to have a Tour of Utah race or something similar at this stage of the year.

It's also the long summer school holidays and the general holiday period in Australia which helps with the crowd numbers. The key sponsor, i.e. the SA Government, is after an ROI, which in their case is measured by the number of extra visitor accommodation bed nights the event generates. each bed night has an average economic impact multiplier.

You sure are not going to race in Europe or Nth America at this time of year. There are enough riders to spread the love around for an extended season, indeed many need the opportunity to race as they may not make the cut for other races.

So what if some races are considered more important than others? Not every race can be the big one. All pros need a development path and opportunity to shine as they rise through the ranks.

The other appeal with this race for teams is the single central base in a decent hotel for the entire visit, and no stage transfers. That really helps make the event less stressful and comfortable.

I agree that the mix of stage profiles could be a little more interesting, that said, there's plenty of dull stages in GTs which serve up something for roadies sprinters and act as a gradual softening process up for the GC stages later in the race.

 

[Taxus4a]

Any tv live for today stage?

 

[qwerty16]

Re:

I haven't watched the stages live, but a mistake this year from the organisation seems to be the very predictable racing - there are basically 4 flat stages and 2 HTFs. I'd like to see them create at least one intermediate stage pr. edition with chances of something happening from, say, 10-15 km out or just to shell some of the peloton before a sprint. This year seems very boring in that aspect and tbh, badly created.

They were not wrong to mix it up in my opinion. They could have had an intermediate stage as you said, but they have had editions that suited sprinters and the more recent editions where always designed for puncheurs. This year they shifted towards (hill)climbers. I hope they will change the course up year by year, although last year seemed a fairly balanced edition.

 

[Jancouver]

Re: Re:

This race honestly shouldn't even be WT. It gives out too many points to Australians.

I could agree with the first sentence, but for many different reasons. How is this a valid reason?

For example the WC participation is awarded based on WT points and clearly here, the Australians have a clear advantage over other nations by holding an WT event that far away, during winter in Europe and North America and in weather conditions that discriminate majority of nations.

Based on the UCI World Ranking now.

Same thing ...

The UCI ranking is awarding 500 points to the TdU winner which is the same as Paris-Nice winner or the Paris-Roubaix winner and half the point the winner of the Tour de France will receive.

And listen to this: Giro d Italia winner 850 ... TdU winner 500 points!

Pure BS considering how weak the field is and how lame the stages are.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCI_World_Tour