The race is far from over and tomorrow’s stage finish on Willunga Hill will change everything, more on this in a minute. Before this I wanted to look around the race and see what’s what, from TV coverage to photofinish “controversy” and the Wouter Mol fan club.
I’ll let the picture do most of the talking. Look at the star rider of amateur team TEAG Team Köstritzer, the one given the seat in the middle and holding the bike. It’s André Greipel.
Sport often celebrates the “little guy” winning and Will Clarke’s win in Stage 2 of the Tour Down Under fits this script. I’m hesitant to label a rider like Clarke “little” because he’s an elite athlete – and tall too. So far his career has been a story of breakaways, in more ways than one.
With the 2012 season under way all the top teams have unveiled their colours. Amongst these team colours are the national champions jerseys. Just as the world champion wears a jersey with the “rainbow bands”, national champions get their special jerseys.
The winner of the annual national championships gets to wear a jersey that represents their country for the year. It’s usually a variation of the national flag or colours. For example you’ll see the French champion in a big blue, white and red tricolore jersey. But in recent years the design has started to change, moving away from a flag turned into a jersey into a more normal team jersey with just hint of national colour. Here’s a more detailed look at the how and why.
Yesterday The Court of Arbitration for Sport said it will deliver its verdict in two weeks’ time. The news of an additional delay prompted wisecracks like needing a geologist to measure the time taken and apparently the CAS is still chewing over an appeal from the Macedonians to settle the javelin competition from the 776BC Olympiad.
But it’s no joke that Contador tested positive for clenbuterol 545 days ago. Why is this so long? Here’s a timeline of events. By my reckoning, everyone involved has delayed and maximised the time taken.
The Giro d’Italia announced the four teams invited to take part in the race last week. The choice of Team NetApp caused some controversy but that’s all part of the fun and I was pleased to see race direttore Michele Acquarone setting out the conditions before and explaining the timing and then commenting on the picks afterwards. And today we’ve learned of the six teams invited to the Tour of Flanders in April.
By contrast the wildcard picks for the Tour de France are a mystery. I’m told we’ll hear some time in February and the criteria for an invitation to the world’s biggest bike race are a mystery. Is a French exam involved?
Jokes aside, we can guess organisers ASO want some French riders in the race and also to invite some exciting teams for the race. With this in mind, here’s a look at the candidates for one of the four golden tickets this July.
A reader’s been in touch with the history of the Tour Down Under in Australia and I enjoyed the read so much I asked if I could put it on here.
Many races begin for a reason, famously the Tour de France started because a newspaper wanted to create an event so impressive that readership would soar. Paris-Roubaix began because some industrialists in Northern France wanted to publicise the velodrome in Roubaix. A more recent addition to the calendar, the Tour Down Under has its genesis in politics, promotion and even a beer boycott was involved. Here’s the story…
Many riders have surnames that are also nouns with a range of meanings. I apologise if this ruins your TV viewing, those once exotic Euro names can actually prove more ordinary but here are some more of the peloton’s names translated from their home language into English.
The Tour Down Under begins in a few days’ time and the last two editions have seen Australian fans adopt an “obscure pro” and give him special encouragement. In 2010 they chose French neo-pro Arthur Vichot and last year it was Angel Madrazo of Movistar. This year Wouter Mol of the Vacansoleil-DCM team is the pick.
Professional cycling teams are ranked into three tiers. The top level is UCI Pro Team and the 18 teams here have automatic and obligatory access to the big races on the UCI’s World Tour calendar. In addition, there is a range of rules governing these teams that aim to ensure sporting and financial stability.
You’ll find the top-18 teams below, their sponsors explained plus riders and staff listed.