Tour Down Under - Touring the Village

There is a red BMC jersey hanging out the window of the Hilton Hotel. The owner probably just wants to air it before tomorrow, but for those who notice it it’s a reminder that their heroes are not far away.

The Santos Tour Down Under Tour Village sits in the shadow of the Hilton in the late afternoon sun. Outside in the small grassy area, the sponsors are spruiking their wares, offering freebies and competitions to the hundreds of fans who pass by, while inside the main tent the team mechanics are preparing the bikes for the following day’s stage, the curious public watching as they clean the bikes, change wheels and lubricate chains. Across the road is the bike expo, all the bicycle, helmet and clothing sponsors showcasing their goods to the avid cyclists, as well as the GreenEDGE caravan where Robbie McEwen will hold a book-signing later.

The Tour Village is often one of the best places to meet the riders - the team buses and cars pull up into the field behind the village, the riders cutting through the village to the team-only gate leading to the pedestrian crossing outside the Hilton. As we wander the tents, Mark Renshaw walks past in his orange Rabobank jersey carrying a large bag of ice; he is evidently repeating his ice-bath recovery of the day before.

Nathan Haas also wanders past with a coffee in hand and stops for a chat. His day was not as good as he had hoped, his form just not what he needed it to be this early in the season. When we asked how it felt riding at a ProTour level for the first time, he also made the interesting comment the ProTour cyclists don’t necessarily ride at a higher level than the Continental teams, but they ride more days a year at that same level. We wish him luck for the Tour and the year and he heads back to the hotel.

Inside the village pavilion I stand and stare at the mechanics working on the bikes, picking the numbers on the frames to know it’s Gerro’s or Robbie McEwen’s or Blel Kadri’s ride they’re working on. They have a routine for each bike – first cleaning away the grit with a compressed air gun, then checking all the brakes and moving parts, preparing and attaching the wheels and finally lubricating the chain and gears to ensure maximum response on the road. It’s fascinating how intricate the work is – and how well the mechanics know the bikes.

I talk to some of the GreenEDGE soigneurs and mechanics as I watch. Of all the mechanics, soigneurs and other helpers on the road, only one is close to home: all of them are European except for one New Zealander. While GreenEDGE ideally wants an Australian support team for their Australian riders, the quality of soigneurs and mechanics hasn’t yet reached that of the riders. Instead the two Basque mechanics methodically prepare all the team’s bikes in turn before refitting a few punctured wheels for tomorrow’s stage. Only one of these mechanics will be in the team car once the race starts, ready to assist riders with problems on the road.

Back outside the grass is full of seated people, watching a replay of the day’s stage up on the big screen. Many of those who watched the stage from the roadside haven’t seen anything else of the race. Up in the back corner in the radio station’s tent, 5AA are broadcasting their Santos Tour Down Under show live, the presenters giving me a smile as I stand and watch them for a while. At 7:30pm a live band steps onstage, entertaining the crowd while the Hilton’s food stall does a roaring trade in cones of chips and plastic cups of beer. We leave for the train station.

As we leave, we notice the figure of Lotto-Belisol’s injured rider Jürgen Roelandts talking to a couple of friends in one of the inside stalls. Apparently we are not the only ones, as a couple of other cyclists stop to say hello. As he leaves, we walk over and wish Jürgen all the best for his recovery and the coming season, and he thanks us in his lovely Belgian accent. We smile at each other, exit the pavilion and leave the village with all its noise and colour behind us.

We didn’t make the train.

The 2012 Australian National Championships - Crits

Crits are a lovely way to start the National Championships and get all the locals hyped about the sporting legends in their midst.  Names like Robbie McEwen, Mark Renshaw and defending champion Jonathan Cantwell were enough to have Ballarat residents out and about in the main street for the first races of the 2012 Australian National Championships, which culminate with the time trials on Tuesday.

The U23 men took the 1.1km circuit in their stride, defending champion Ben Grenda joining with the peloton in the one-minute laps of Ballarat's Sturt St.  With the usual contention for points at the intermediate sprints, the 33-kilometre race passed without incident; Aaron Donnelly's breakaway being reeled in just in time for a bunch sprint at the finish.  19-year-old Scott Law of New South Wales already had the winner's salute down pat, arms outstretched to the sky as he led Jay McCarthy and Ben Grenda over the line.  “These criteriums suit me very well,” he commented on the podium after receiving his national champion’s jersey.  “I’m usually good on the track.”

Due credit to the other medallists, too.  As he left the podium area, instead of handing it to his girlfriend or mother, Jay McCarthy passed his flower bouquet to the nearest female spectator, which appreciative recipient happened to be my mother/photographer waiting nearby (thank you, Jay, they look lovely on our fireplace!).  ACT cyclist Mitchell Lovelock-Fay’s mother just got a kiss on the cheek, but it was easy to see her pride in her son.  The sprint classification winner’s career has made huge progress in the past 18 months, hinting at a bright future for the track/road rider, who turns 20 next week.

 Alexis Rhodes was the golden girl of the day, making an early break in her new GreenEDGE kit and never looking back.  Her GreenEDGE teammates sat on the front and kept the pace as low as possible, allowing Alexis to build up a lead that hovered between 10 and 15 seconds for the final half of the race.  She stated afterward that her win was due largely to her confidence in her teammates to keep the peloton off her back.

To the encouragement of the crowd she came home in just under 50 minutes to take the gold medal, her teammates crossing the line behind her.   South Australia’s Annette Edmondson took out the bronze medal with Rhodes’ GreenEDGE compatriot Melissa Hoskins rounding out the top three for silver.  At 21, Hoskins also took out the under-23 title, shivering, “I’m cold now,” as she waited for the under-23 medal ceremony, soaked in champagne from the elite women’s presentation.  Edmondson, who rode the entire race with her mobile phone in her back pocket after choosing not to stop mid-race to remove it, also claimed U23 silver, while defending elite and U23 champion Lauren Kitchen took U23 bronze.  GreenEDGE fans were also pleased to see Tiffany Cromwell on the platform as the winner of the criterium sprint jersey.

But as always, it was the elite men’s race that everyone was waiting to see.  The presence of triple Tour de France green jersey-winner Robbie McEwen was enough to have spectators spellbound, myself notwithstanding.  Add in the best lead-out man in the world, Mark Renshaw, and a goodly portion of Australia’s new ProTour cycling team and the atmosphere was electric.  Ballarat boy Pat Shaw put on a good show for his hometown crowd, joining in or initiating every breakaway effort and stubbornly refusing to die, in an effort reminiscent of FDJ’s Jeremy Roy in the 2011 Tour de France.  The crowd cheer of ‘Go, Pat!’ can’t have hurt either.

But finally tuckered out, Shaw was reeled in to allow for a bunch sprint, the green and orange jerseys of Robbie McEwen and Mark Renshaw respectively creeping up from the middle of the peloton towards the front.  Though McEwen was out of shape with food poisoning all through the race, Renshaw saw his chance at the end and went for it, only to be pipped across the line by a flying orange form.  Genesys Wealth Advisers’ Anthony Giacoppo had been perfectly placed by his omnipresent team to race up behind the world-class sprinter and take gold, with teammate Steele von Hoff following him across to claim bronze.  Giacoppo referenced the number of Genesys riders as a strategy for Sunday’s road race, mildly stating that there’s “…quite a few of us.” 

But the prize for the biggest team would have to go to GreenEDGE, with 16 riders entered in the Elite Men’s Road Race, including several popular favourites like defending champion Jack Bobridge and Milan-San-Remo winner Matt Goss.  The competition will no doubt be fierce on the hills of Buninyong, but will the numbers be enough for the Australian team to achieve their dream of claiming an Australian jersey?

Green Team, Seasoned Riders

So yes, it's about time for another GreenEDGE update.  No matter how hard I try to keep up, they're always one step ahead of me, signing up every rider they can find, particularly the Aussies.  There are, quite literally, only three Aussies in the ProTour peloton not riding for GreenEDGE, and about 10 or 12 who are!  Because it's simply easier in the sheer numbers with which I'm now working (credit to Shayne Bannan and Andrew Ryan for getting my fingers this run down), I'll list the riders joining Australia's new national team:

AUSTRALIANS

Jack Bobridge                                                 (Garmin-Cervelo)

Simon Clarke                                                  (Astana) 

Baden Cooke                                                   (Saxobank-Sungard)

Allan Davis                                                      (Astana)

Simon Gerrans                                               (Sky)

Matt Goss                                                       (HTC-Highroad)

Leigh Howard                                                 (HTC-Highroad)

Brett Lancaster                                              (Garmin-Cervelo)
Robbie McEwen                                             (Radioshack)

Cameron Meyer                                             (Garmin-Cervelo)

Travis Meyer                                                  (Garmin-Cervelo)

Stuart O'Grady                                               (Leopard Trek)

Wes Sulzberger                                               (FDJ)

Matt Wilson                                                     (Garmin-Cervelo)

OVERSEAS

Michael Albasini                                              (HTC-Highroad - Switzerland)

Fumiyuki Beppu                                             (Radioshack - Japan)

Jens Keukeleire                                              (Cofidis - Belgium)

Sebastian Langeveld                                      (Rabobank - Holland)

Jens Mouris                                                     (Vacansoleil - Holland)

Daniel Teklehaymanot                                   (neo - Eritrea)

Svein Tuft                                                        (Spidertech-C10 - Canada)

Tomas Vaitkus                                               (Astana - Lithuania)

Pieter Weening                                               (Rabobank - Holland)

The updates are coming in from GreenEDGE HQ thick and fast - every couple of days now.  There are even mock-ups of the team jersey floating around the ether, though it's unlikely to remain unchanged.  The big news on which everyone is now waiting is the announcement of whether GreenEDGE has a corporate sponsor in the wider community.  It's almost surprising, given how ready this team is looking, that someone hasn't already snaffled up the opportunity to put Oz well and truly on the world cycling map.

The Edge of News: GreenEDGE Cycling

Though the transfer season doesn't officially start until September 1st, most riders have their contracts for the following year sussed by the end of the Tour de France, as do most teams with their roster.  This year there was another team on the hunt in France - GreenEDGE, the ambitious Australian cycling team looking to get off the ground for next year.

The project's management team were scouting all the Aussie talent on the WorldTour circuit at this year's Tour, with the intention that Australians make up 80% of the team's cyclists.  Much to the delight of eager fans, word is already beginning to leak of the potential team roster prior to the official announcements in September.

The biggest win for the Aussie team is the signing of the Luxembourg team Leopard Trek's 2011 Tour road captain, Stuey O'Grady.  Acknowledged as one of the smartest and most experienced heads in the peloton, the Tour de France and WorldTour veteran has been named as the head of the Australian National Team for the London 2012 Olympics and will likely be team leader or road captain at GreenEDGE.

The other big name tipped to be lining up in green in Australia's own triple-green jersey.  Though having denied it for the past few days, Robbie McEwen of American team Radioshack is said to be switching to the Australian team as well.  McEwen is more likely to join in a management role, having announced 2011 to be his final professional season.

A disappointing hit and miss for the team has been young Tasmanian Richie Porte.  The 26-year-old, who made his Tour de France debut this year, has shown increasing skill in the individual time trial, coming fourth to World Time Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara in last year's  Road World Championships, and bettering that in this year's Tour de France individiual time trial stage by coming 5th ahead of Cancellara's 8th.  Alas for GreenEDGE, Porte has renewed his contract with Danish team Saxobank-Sungard.

Word is also spreading of the untested young blood that GreenEDGE is seeking.  Of the number of Australians signed to WorldTour teams, not all are racing at the highest level yet, and of these GreenEDGE has two of my top three young Aussie picks in their sights.  Jack Bobridge is a former under-23 world champion and Cameron Meyer is Australian national time trial champion, while his younger brother Travis, despite not being in GreenEDGE's radar, is the former national road race champion.  All three ride for Team Garmin-Cervelo, and none have yet made their debut at a grand tour.  There has also been mention of Garmin's Australian directeur sportif, Matt White, who could be persuaded to follow his young countrymen across to their new national team.

The closer we get to the beginning of the transfer season and a new season of cycling, the more exciting and real it becomes that Australia is finally beginning to ruffle its feathers on the world stage of this beautiful sport.  A Tour de France winner and a potential national team all in one year - who would have thought?