Another gorgeous day in Adelaide greeted the riders today for the last stage of this year's Tour Down Under. Blue skies, sunshine and a light wind made for great riding and spectator conditions.
We managed to score a position at around the 90m mark with a great view of the riders heading around the corner into the straight and then up onto the finish line in King William Street.
This is a great stage for getting a good close up of the riders as they head onto the circuit an hour or so before the race to warm up and have a chat. The atmosphere is always exciting and always offers fabulous opportunities for close up photo's of the riders.
I managed to have a little chat with the one and only Rupert Guinness (SMH sports journalist) looking bright as always and he was very gracious to have a little picture with me. Thanks Rupert!
(I'll post some photo's including that one next week in a wrap up post of the Tour.)
But back to the race.
As always a few riders broke away early, including the one and only Jens Voigt. But the peloton never let them far from their sights and by the last couple of laps they were all back together. Lotto were setting up for yet another picture perfect sprint for Andre Greipel.
As the riders rounded the corner for the straight Lotto was in great position with Greipel sitting in about third wheel ready to pounce when none other than Mark Renshaw, now riding for Team Blanco decided to throw a little spanner in the works, weaving through and jumping them.
Greipel had to go. Renshaw held on, for a few moments... but in the end Greipel's power and top end speed was too much and he crossed the line for yet another victory. This one marks his 100th career victory, 14 TDU stage wins and his third for this year's race. There's some stats for you.
What an exciting sprinter he is to watch in the flesh!
Renshaw did hold on for second with Boasson Hagen in third.
Overall Team Blanco was able to successfully defend Tom-Jelte Slagter's lead in the overall classification, no doubt a proud moment for young 'TJ'.
I will do a wrap up post next week but for now am just enjoying my last night in Adelaide for another year. What a fabulous city and fantastic race! We shall be back again next year, for sure.
(And for those of you who may be interested we did have a rematch of the table tennis tonight. And in a very tight encounter with the score see-sawing for much of the match I can report I came out on top. Sweet, sweet victory.)
Showing posts with label Tom-Jelte Slagter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom-Jelte Slagter. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Stage 5 Tour Down Under 2013 - Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
You couldn't have scripted a better outcome for today's 5th stage of the Tour Down Under - if you were an Aussie that is!
We headed up early in the crisp morning air and arrived on top of the hill around 9:30am to find our spot. 25 meter mark of the finish line, and right in front of the big screen. Perfect! It really is a great day on top of the hill. You get to watch the race all day on the big screen and then of course see the riders as they make their way up for the first time and then the final climb to the line. And there is food, coffee, ice-cream, toilets - everything you need to keep the little tackers happy!
And the Queen stage where the riders tackle Old Willunga Hill including a hill top finish delievered everything and a little bit more. There were break aways, attacks and then just when you thought the break may just hold on the big boys pulled out all stops and the excitement began.
As the day went on the crowd swelled in anticipation for the riders and on the first lap up the hill the atmosphere was electric. But it was the final burst to the finish line that sent the crowd into a frenzy!
Simon Gerrans, as Aussie as you get, jumped from the peloton and stormed towards the line. It was a battle between himself and young dutch superstar (who?) Tom-Jelte Slagter but Gerrans had more fight to get over the line in first place with a tremendous roar from the crowd especially those in Gerry Ryan's & Orica Green-Edge's corporate grandstand overlooking the finish line.
Gerrans winning on Australia day was our version of a French man winning on Bastille Day during the Tour de France. Epic!
And let's not forget Slagter's effort in ripping the Ochre Jersey right of Geraint Thomas' back. Team Sky tried everything to protect the jersey but it was to no avail. This young dutch kid has gone from who? to wow! I look forward to watching him in action over the next few years. I think he's something special.
Again, I don't have any photo's to show just yet. But as soon as I rectify my technical issues I will post them.
Tomorrow is the final stage of this year's TDU. A mere formality for Slagter which will see his Team Blanco simply protect him for the entirety of the race keeping him out of any trouble so he can take the podium. As for the sprint, well that's most likely a formality too. Can anyone beat Greipel? I'm really don't think so! Go Greipel!
We headed up early in the crisp morning air and arrived on top of the hill around 9:30am to find our spot. 25 meter mark of the finish line, and right in front of the big screen. Perfect! It really is a great day on top of the hill. You get to watch the race all day on the big screen and then of course see the riders as they make their way up for the first time and then the final climb to the line. And there is food, coffee, ice-cream, toilets - everything you need to keep the little tackers happy!
And the Queen stage where the riders tackle Old Willunga Hill including a hill top finish delievered everything and a little bit more. There were break aways, attacks and then just when you thought the break may just hold on the big boys pulled out all stops and the excitement began.
As the day went on the crowd swelled in anticipation for the riders and on the first lap up the hill the atmosphere was electric. But it was the final burst to the finish line that sent the crowd into a frenzy!
Simon Gerrans, as Aussie as you get, jumped from the peloton and stormed towards the line. It was a battle between himself and young dutch superstar (who?) Tom-Jelte Slagter but Gerrans had more fight to get over the line in first place with a tremendous roar from the crowd especially those in Gerry Ryan's & Orica Green-Edge's corporate grandstand overlooking the finish line.
Gerrans winning on Australia day was our version of a French man winning on Bastille Day during the Tour de France. Epic!
And let's not forget Slagter's effort in ripping the Ochre Jersey right of Geraint Thomas' back. Team Sky tried everything to protect the jersey but it was to no avail. This young dutch kid has gone from who? to wow! I look forward to watching him in action over the next few years. I think he's something special.
Again, I don't have any photo's to show just yet. But as soon as I rectify my technical issues I will post them.
Tomorrow is the final stage of this year's TDU. A mere formality for Slagter which will see his Team Blanco simply protect him for the entirety of the race keeping him out of any trouble so he can take the podium. As for the sprint, well that's most likely a formality too. Can anyone beat Greipel? I'm really don't think so! Go Greipel!
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