Tour Down Under 2014 Race Routes Announced

I was pretty excited yesterday when I received an email from the TDU announcing the 2014 stages.

Again we are booked in to make the 10 or so hour trek from country Victoria to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under. It is probably my favourite time of the year. Next year marks our 11th year in a row.

For 8 of those years we have stayed in holiday apartments in Glenelg, right on the beach; and next year will be no different. It's perfect base for the duration of the tour.

The 2014 stages include the regulars; the prologue now called the Peoples Choice Classic, stage 3 finish in pretty Stirling, penultimate stage 5 finish on top of Willunga Hill and the final stage in the city. The race also returns for a finish in Victor Harbour as well as finishes in Campbelltown and Angaston.

There are some new routes and again the tricky climb up Corkscrew Hill introduced last year will be a feature.

All bodes for another exciting and successful Tour Down Under. And I can't wait!

Are you a TDU faithful?

Aussie Media : Get your act together

Photo Courtesy of ninemsn.com 

Once again I watched the news bulletins today, both morning shows and evening news waiting, hoping that they would give Simon Gerrans' yellow jersey and Aussie team Orica-Green Edge's TTT win the coverage it deserves, only to be disappointed...yet again.

I shouldn't be surprised. After all the Tour de France is in July smack bang in the middle of football season. You would think that something as prestigious as the coveted yellow jersey and an Australian-owned cycling team leading the biggest annual sporting event in the world would deserve 30 seconds of coverage headlining at least the sport. But no, it was relegated to last in the bulletin receiving about 20 seconds of dismal footage.

The sad thing is, if one of the cyclists was found guilty of doping there is no doubt that would be top headline news, even leading the entire news.

No wonder there are so many skeptics dismissing our great sport when the only coverage considered newsworthy is negative.

Do you think cycling deserves more coverage on our news?

Orica-Green Edge Rocks Le Tour 2013

What an amazing Tour de France it is has been so far for our own Australian team Orica-Green Edge. Not only does Simon Gerrans pull off a gutsy win over none other than Peter Sagan in a sprint finish for Stage 2 but he now finds himself in the yellow jersey after Orica-Green Edge wins the Stage 3 Team Time Trial.

Look at those smiles! Bloody brilliant!

Photo courtesy of eurosport.com

Le Tour 2013

Well it's been a long time between drinks. It seems that life got in the way in the past few months but as the most important race of the year is here, so am I.

And what a start it has been.

After what should have been a beautiful and exciting first stage in Corsica we were left with a shambolic race. The good old Orica-Green Edge bus getting stuck under the finish line really caused mayhem and then crashes galore changed what should have been an awesome stage. Although I'm sure Kittel would disagree!

There is no doubt there is a lot of speculation for this years Tour. After a somewhat lackluster race last year cycling fans and yearning for a real battle and although some commentators are already writing Chris Froome's name in the record books I think it will be more than a one horse (or dog) race.

A few names that spring to mind are Contador, Rodriguez, Valverde, Evans and of course Froome.

But it is the Tour de France and anything can happen and most likely will.

I'm geared up for late nights surviving on 4-5 hours sleep but it will be all worth it. It always is!

So it's not just cycling????

I've debated with myself as to whether I should make comment on the recent 'shock' revelations that Australian Football Codes have been linked to systematic doping and the like.

The sad fact is I for one am not surprised. You can't honestly tell me that there is a sport in the world that is untouched by 'cheats' and 'dopers'. The glass half full girl in me likes to believe that these incidences are in the minority, but also as a realist I believe that perhaps it is not as infrequent as we would like.

Bottom line is that whenever there is money and superiority involved there will be those who feel the need and the pressure and be able to justify that it is okay to cheat. Competition in the sporting world is fierce, as is the pressure to perform consistently and successfully.

Basketball, baseball, football, athletics, swimming, cycling - no sport is immune.Up until now though it seems that most sports have been able to sweep things under the carpet. Cycling seems to be the only sport that is constantly in the spotlight, for the wrong reasons.

These revelations in Australia bring a somewhat sickly smile to my face. My first thought was sarcastically 'So it's not just cycling!' my second thought, more seriously was one of bewilderment. The glass half empty girl in me wonders if any sporting success or achievement can be really taken on it's merits, which saddens me for the (hopefully) majority of clean sports men and woman the world over.

It is a complicated issue involving money, greed, selfishness and the longing for success and adoration within ones self. Can the money and greed side of things ever be changed? Can human nature ever change for those who can justify doping to themselves? Complicated questions, with no real answers.

Where will be in ten years from now? Who knows....

Stage 6 Tour Down Under 2013. Greipel! Again!

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.)