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The highly-anticipated 2012 Tour Down Under begins with the 51km Down Under Classic through Adelaide’s East End. We’ll be covering Australia’s biggest cycling event with a live blog from the start of the race at 7.30pm AEDT.
Following Cadel Evans’ Tour de France victory last year, Australian cycling has experienced a sizeable boost in interest and the mainstream sporting public’s increased interest means the 2012 version of the Tour Down Under will be one of the most-watched since the event’s 1999 inception.
That enthusiasm will be particularly focussed on the debut of Australian team GreenEDGE who will make their Tour Down Under debut tonight.
The team includes defending champion Cameron Meyer, Stuart O’Grady and Simon Gerrans as well as evergreen sprinter Robbie McEwen, who will be riding in his final Tour Down Under.
Other Australian riders that will compete this year Mark Renshaw, Michael Rogers, Chris Sutton and Matthew Lloyd.
The Tour will also boast a host of top international riders including Edvald Boasson Hagen, Alejandro Valverde as well as former winners Andre Greipel, Luis Leon Sanchez and Martin Elmiger.
While the six-stage, 804.5km event does not begin officially until Tuesday, tonight’s prologue offers sprinters the opportunity to put their team in the spotlight from the beginning.
Former winners include Matt Goss and Robbie McEwen, and the likes of Mark Renshaw, Alessandro Petacchi and Oscar Freire will all be looking to cross the finish line in front tonight.
Tonight is a great chance to get a good look at how each team’s riders are going, and we’ll be providing up to the minute updates of the Down Under Classic from 7.30pm AEDT. If you’ve got an opinion on who will take it out, or just a general observation of the Tour, don’t hesitate to give us your thoughts below.
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