Tour Down Under

[rev]

Stage 1 in the Barrossa may be cancelled because of the bush fires.

[Vee]

Sunday Sessions on the Riverbank or the City Circuit prelude race of the Tour Down Under, complemented by Fork on the Road?
Or both?

TDU starts today with a new city circuit.
The TDU People's Choice Classic will also see the Fork on the Road festival (food trucks, music) providing tasty food options and entertainment.

Thousands of cycling fans are expected to line the banks of the River Torrens and Adelaide’s parklands, as the Santos Tour Down Under kicks off with the People’s Choice Classic.

Around 140 of the world’s best cyclists will tackle the 50 kilometre race on the new street circuit as a prelude to the six-stage Tour Down Under, which starts on Tuesday.

And if the fans get hungry while watching the exciting racing, they’ll be well catered for with the Fork on the Road food festival also part of tonight’s activities.

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/cyclist ... ircuit.htm

Circuit map:


Race route maps.
http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/race-routes.htm

TDU 2014 free app available for iPhone or Android.
http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/iphone- ... d-apps.htm

[rev]

Stage 1 as in the stage in the Barrossa.

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/stage-1.htm

[Vee]

Stage 1 as in the stage in the Barossa.

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/stage-1.htm

Route map for Stage 1 TDU in the Barossa.


Saw a tweet earlier today about timing of an announcement (Monday) re any potential route changes to Stage 1, given proximity and status of the Eden Valley bushfire.
I have seen varying reports on the status of the bushfire in the Barossa, including firefighters gaining the upper hand, re-opening of the Sturt Highway etc. Great effort by our volunteer firefighters!

[crawf]

It's great they promote South Australia during the TV coverage. But they need to tone it down a bit, there is too much advertising.

[Vee]

The Tour Down Under is a fantastic international cycling event. It's great to see the flags flying in the Victoria Square Tour Village and huge numbers attending the Village and Bike Expo. It attracts large numbers of cyclists as spectators and participants (formal rides eg Bupa Challenge, Cancer Ride, Women's Criterium etc and informal rides), showcases SA to the world, inspires more to take up cycling, promotes a safe cycling message and provides free, family entertainment to a local and visitor audience.

Bike Bag Hire was "maxxed out" in Oz, such was the number of cyclists who flew in with their bikes.

The TDU Village hosted the official teams presentation to an enthusiastic crowd.
http://instagram.com/p/jVP7DqjvFy/
via @Andrewros

The only disappointment was the TV coverage by Channel 9 which needs to improve. Too many ads, endless updates and interviews interrupting live coverage and the replays (highlights package) being on very late at night. The weekend TV coverage is much better. Ch 9/GEM could also do a better job with interstate coverage (alas it is compromised by its rights and devotion to the cricket).
SBS is the true home of cycling in Oz!!!

The livestream from the website was better as it cut out the many ads. It was very useful for folk catching up away from home (at home also) and spectators at the various stages around the route eg via an iPad.
Pity it does not begin from the start of the race, especially for fans around the race route.

I was gobsmacked by the huge number of cyclists I saw/met from all parts of Australia and New Zealand (huge numbers of club riders) and the friendship and camaraderie shown by all. The atmosphere at race start and finish and major climbs, in particular, added to the excitement and fun. Kudos to the various Councils, TDU organizers and volunteers.

Social media is fantastic in covering the event, sharing comments, photos, videos (livestream URL in Oz) and enthusiasm. The global reach cannot be underestimated: comments, tweets, retweets, blog posts, photos shared across the world in many languages.

This sample tweet from Marcel Kittel gives an insight into the thoughts of the professional riders.
...

"Got goosebumps because of all the spectators on Willunga Hill today!! The last time I had that was in the Tour de France. Awesome fans here!”

via @marcelkittel

The crowds were fantastic eg at Willunga Hill yesterday.
http://twitter.com/rapha/status/4269963 ... 84/photo/1

via @SetCycleClub
Stage 5 highlights on YT
http://youtu.be/_hgrTQRSeJc
via @BICITV

"@thejensie high fiving everyone up Willunga Hill"
http://t.co/jriE6SPhKV
Pic via @kirstybaxter79

via @TheEuroCyclist

The final stage, city street circuit, today promises a thrilling finish to the race with just one second between first and second riders.

Well done, organizers, teams and officials, participants, spectators, volunteers, police/firies/ambos/camera crews, various groups, businesses and sponsors who contributed to the success of the TDU.
A special event for South Australia and the world.

[monotonehell]

A bit like the heady first years of the Grand Prix, minus all the noise and pollution. I love it.

[Maximus]

Hiya Vee,

Agree with everything you're written, but I think we need to put the TV coverage into perspective. It wasn't that long ago that the TV coverage consisted only of a 30-minutes highlights package each night. Now we have a 60-minute package each night, plus all stages live. Not sure whether that was the case in SA, but in the eastern states the last two hours of each weekday stage was live this year (which was a first). Plus, of course, the entirety of the weekend stages is also live. Yes, the highlights are on too late at night, and maybe there are too many ads, etc, during the coverage, but I think those are small gripes in the overall scheme of things.

Even Tim Gilbert, the TV coverage host, who initially looked totally out of his depth in the first year, has - to his credit - clearly improved his knowledge of cycling out of sight, and he does a great job of pumping up the event and SA more broadly. He also read the Today sports news each morning from Victoria Square and did live interviews with various cycling people during the week.

I'm normally pretty anti-Channel 9, but credit where credit is due in the case, I reckon.

[Maximus]

The route for 2015 was revealed yesterday. No great surprises, although interesting to note that the Corkscrew climb has been omitted. New finishes in Campbelltown (Stage 1) and Paracombe (Stage 3), plus Glenelg makes a return after many years (Stage 4 start).

• People’s Choice Classic (Adelaide) – 51 km - Sunday January 18
• Stage 1 – Tanunda to Campbelltown – 132.6 km - Tuesday January 20
• Stage 2 – Unley to Stirling – 150.5 km - Wednesday January 21
• Stage 3 – Norwood to Paracombe – 143.2 km - Thursday January 22
• Bupa Stage 4 – Glenelg to Mount Barker – 144.5 km - Friday January 23
• Stage 5 – McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill – 151.5 km – Saturday January 24
• Be Safe Be Seen MAC Stage 6 – Adelaide (final route to be determined) – Sunday January 25

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/paracom ... -under.htm

[Aidan]

I have suggested that as a tribute to Cadel Evans, Stage 1 of the next Tour Down Under should start in Cadell and end in Evanston.

[Wayno]

And so it starts again. Opening night commences now with team presentations and free concert.

Love the TDU...

[crawf]

Just watching the highlights from todays TDU on Channel 9, and it really showcases Adelaide extremely well. The city and riverbank looks amazing, with Adelaide Oval being the stand out.

The TDU is by far the best platform to promote Adelaide and South Australia to the world.

Tour Down Under 2016: 100,000 people gather in Adelaide’s CBD to watch Stage 6
January 24, 2016 7:43pm
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/tou ... 1251bf0228

A JUBILANT Jay Weatherill has vowed to make the Tour Down Under “more exciting every year”, as a crowd of almost 100,000 gathered in the city to farewell their cycling heroes at the final stage on Sunday.

It was a triumphant finish for the Tour, as Australian Simon Gerrans won the event for a record fourth time and the crowd celebrated the news that the event was here to stay, after world cycling’s governing body told the Government it would remain a WorldTour event indefinitely.

High temperatures and strong winds had put a dampener on crowd numbers during the Barossa Valley’s Stage One last week but improved weather led to much higher numbers later in the week, particularly in the Fleurieu Peninsula on Saturday.

Crowd numbers totalled 731,000, which was 55,000 less than last year, which organisers attributed to the extreme weather early last week.

Premier Jay Weatherill, who labelled South Australia as “The Cycling State”, was quick to point out that “it was the biggest crowd ever down at Snapper Point in Aldinga”.

“People came out of their houses to get up close to those cyclists and watch those elite cyclists whizzing around through the scenery in the southern Vale,” he said". Tour Down Under winner Simon Gerrans with Orica GreenEDGE teammate Caleb Ewan after the end of the Tour on Sunday in the CBD. Photo: Tom Huntley

Simon Gerrans rides with the peloton in the Tour Down Under during Stage 6, through Adelaide’s CBD. Pic: AAP/Dan Peled
“That’s our strategy — to keep a successful event growing and make it more exciting every year. That’s what we need to do, keep delivering a successful Tour Down Under and then the arrangements with the national bodies will look after themselves.”

The cyclists have packed up their Lycra and thousands of visitors are on their way home, but the Premier believes they’ll return, for as long South Australia hosts the event.

“It’s a great event. South Australians are getting into it in their droves and it’s here to stay,” he said.

“We are absolutely confident that we’ve got this race sewn up. It’s because of the quality of this event. It’s the riders who vote with their feet by coming here from the northern hemisphere to get a bit of sun on their faces and participate in what is known as a great opening event of the season.”

Spectators were full of praise on Sunday for the event and its riders.

Stage 6 of the Tour Down Under ready to kick off. Photo: Tom Huntley
“You should keep it, you do it so well,” said Paul Lang, 45, from Melbourne, who travelled to South Australia to watch the event with his wife and two children.

“It’s become so big, especially over the last five years. People seem to embrace it more here.”

“This is the first time I’ve been to Adelaide in 20 years,” said Mrs Lang, 44. “The last time was for the last Grand Prix — and I haven’t been to that since it left Adelaide!”

For Leanne Saunders and children Siena and Tristan, the event is the highlight of the year. “We’ve been here for every single stage and every singe race since the beginning of time,” said Mrs Saunders, from Malvern. “We come to see the best riders in the world and to meet people from all over the world who come to watch them. Everyone we talk to says we should keep it here.”

Sport Minister Leon Bignell said that adding exciting events, including some in regional areas, would keep the crowds coming.

“We went down and explored Mt Gambier last year and we want to have another look at that,” he said. “Maybe we could have the Sunday Classic there somewhere down the track. There are other world class cycling events that we might go after. Maybe you do Mt Gambier one year, Port Lincoln the next, Kangaroo Island the next, Flinders Ranges the next, away from the January timeline but still some of the world’s best riders. We’re continually speaking with Christian Prudhomme, the head of the Tour de France and with Brian Cookson the president of the UCI to see what opportunities are there. We’ll seize any opportunity we can to bring world class events to South Australia.”

Mr Bignell said the Government needed to thank the people of South Australia “because it’s very hard for the world governing body of cycling to ignore the fact that more than 700,000 people turn up to a bike race”.

“That doesn’t happen in many places anywhere in the world,” he said.

Mr Bignell said free events and a family focus, particularly on the last day of the Tour, helped attract a diverse crowd.

“We shouldn’t see this as South Australia versus Victoria. They’ve got a good quality, one-day race that isn’t at the standard of the Tour Down Under yet but their ambitions are to grow that and we should see us as having the Test Match of the international cycling season and they’ve got the one-day match.

“By having two races across two states it may mean we get more international visitors coming down here and experiencing two races whereas they might not come for one. We see it as an opportunity to work with Victoria to grow the tourism numbers of South Australia.”

[Wayno]

love the TDU...

[Vee]

Just watching the highlights from todays TDU on Channel 9, and it really showcases Adelaide extremely well. The city and riverbank looks amazing, with Adelaide Oval being the stand out.

The TDU is by far the best platform to promote Adelaide and South Australia to the world.

Yes, Crawf - agree.
Adelaide looked fantastic on the evening highlights package.
I like the CBD race route extending along King William Street to Victoria Square. The green shade trees, green park lands on show, riverbank and grounds/lawns of Government House provided a pleasant contrast to the built environment. And the curve of the footbridge showed up to advantage.

Great feedback throughout every stage on social media!

The complementary Tour de Fork event (food trucks at Elder Park) was a success.
Tour de Fork 2016

Fork is being held in conjunction with the second ever Family Day at Be Safe be Seen MAC Stage 6. Fork of course will include over 25 of your favourite, established and new Adelaide Food Trucks, with a plethora of tasty, handmade savoury and sweet food and drinks made from local South Australian produce. ... (and) range of exciting free activities for kids to enjoy...

The only criticism I saw was a complaint that there was no food or drink stalls/vans to cater to the crowd at the King of the Mountain vantage points (Montefiore Hill)?

I like the possibility of shifting (on rotation) the pre-race Classic or similar event to a region to broaden the impact and appeal but not sure about the logistics? One of the big advantages with riders and visitors is the ability to stay in one place (accommodation) for the duration.

[ChillyPhilly]

A friend sent me this.

.