New heights for the TDU in 2009
The
big TDU news in 2008 was that the race had won pro-tour status - a first
for any non-European event and nothing short of a sporting coup for
South Australia.
But despite the high temperatures SA seems to have during the tour week every year, the buzz among the cycling media specialists during last year's tour was that the SA routes just didn't have the hills to really test the European riders who clamour through the steep climbs and precarious descents of the Pyrenees during the Tour de France like mountain goats on skates. On the quiet, some were saying it just wasn't tough enough.
Well, never ones to rest on their laurels, race organisers have revisited the course and added some rather arduous climbs this year - and there will be no cooling mountain effects on the way up. Adelaide's ancient hills will loom big, hot and round in both the Barossa with Mengler's Hill (more than 400 metres) and extra run up old Willunga Hill - the hump that has been a bit of clincher on the penultimate stage of the event every year.
Over seven days the riders will cover some 853 km, with 803 of those counting for the ochre jersey and also the King of the Mountain title - or maybe in SA we should just call it King of the Hill - because it takes an "A" Number One effort to take out the title, particularly in this early stage of the international cycling calendar and taking into account the dry and relentless conditions of an Adelaide summer.
And for those of you in the burbs on the eastern side of the city, there are going to be some great new opportunities to "feel the rush" like never before. Stage one starts in Norwood, a suburb with a great history of Italian post war settlement and therefore some great cafes. So ride your bicicletta there before the race, settle in for a great breakfast espresso and then indulge in a little passegiatta and be seen. Team UniSA supporters will get a rousing welcome at the end of stage one which winds up in the heart of Mawson Lakes and the Uni's science hub. The secret here is, while they may not look like it, scientists know how to party - it will be worth donning a lab coat to blend in, and hanging around at race end.
Stage four kicks off from Burnside before making its way to Angaston (and the big question here has to be - do they make knicks in gold?).
Details of all the stages are available at the
TDU website and you can
read more about the local highlights across the Adelaide Hills, the
Barossa Valley and the Fleurieu Peninsula and in and around our fair
city at the Team UniSA Supporter's club website.