Well, it’s been a week or two since the end of the Tour Downunder for 2017, so having mulled things over and considered the evidence, a couple of thoughts occur. This is not a full report; that can be found on plenty of other sites.
As I sat at the side of the road somewhere near the Birdwood sprint point in the Adelaide Hills I was thinking about Caleb Ewen and the way he’s bloomed. Winning four stages tends to make my argument a bit redundant, but I’ve been struck by how far he’s come in 12 months in terms of his roadcraft and confidence.
At 23 he’s now in a league where he can take it up to the big boys and contest the major sprint races around the world. Last year, no way. He was blindingly fast, but unprepared and at times diffident in the argy-bargy on the way to the line. This year his control and poise, his ability to know when to drop the hammer shows a maturity which will only grow.
Richie Porte looked fantastic and never seemed in danger of losing the race once he seized the Paracombe stage win. He was hungry, determined, and very very focused on shutting out any challengers, and his team rode with that objective too. Defending champion Simon Gerrans didn’t have the form this year, and he knew it. I’ve read media reports saying ‘he’s lost it’, ‘he’s too old’, but I wouldn’t write him off just yet.
Gian Luca Brambilla looks as good on the bike as any rider I’ve ever seen. Seeing him put the power down in a tandem effort to shake off the field along with big Belgian rider Thomas de Gendt made me think of the beauty and the grace of cycling, epitomised by a man who devotes his entire movement and positional control to get to the finish line. Brambilla looked fabulous and I’ll be watching him keenly from here on.
And the rock star: Peter Sagan was a focus for the fans and the media in a way that only the wearer of the World Champion’s jersey can be. He was serious about being here, too, even if his form was slightly below his best. Sagan and his wife turned up 2 weeks before the start to get the miles in and make sure he was competitive, and he was up there in all the contested sprints.
See this photo of the throw for the line on the last stage and you can see he was giving it his all. I think he came up about half a wheel short.
Finally, spotted these guys pacelining in the Adelaide Hills, but dunno where they’re from. I like their style.
rustyalex 