“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, is a motto that could easily apply to the 2014 Tour Down Under, but no one ever should ever rest on their laurels, not even Mike Turtur.
The Tour Down Under Race Director has just presided over the best race in the event’s 16 year history. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.
It’s an often debated point among the cycling scribes that assemble in Adelaide each January, given the logistical and seasonal restrictions the TDU operates under, how can the race be improved?
One things that should be discussed is time bonuses.
Without time bonuses, Cadel Evans and not Simon Gerrans would’ve claimed the Ochre Jersey. He would’ve won by 10 seconds from Diego Ulissi.
At the Tour de France they didn’t have time bonuses last year, and I didn’t miss them, but they’ve always been a part of the TDU.
Is it worth trying a year or two without them?
In terms of the race, what can be done to make it better?
Turtur won’t countenance moving the race away from the city centre hotel that the riders simply love.
Each day they return to same hotel and enjoy top quality accommodation and the best food.
Ask the mechanics who work at the Tour Village where all their bikes are stored and they’ll tell you it’s palatial.
And Turtur won’t start or finish stages more than two hours from Adelaide because it makes the days too long.
Given it’s the first race of the year in January, he also doesn’t want it to be too hard.
I know some riders weren’t best pleased with the course for the final stage, saying it was a bit too technical for a Tour stage. There weren’t any serious crashes, but many of the corners were a lot tighter and narrower than the traditional finishing circuit we see here.
But that change was forced on Turtur due to the Australia Day cricket at the Adelaide Oval, and won’t be the situation every year.
As it stands the Tour starts on a Tuesday and finishes on Sunday, with a separate stand-alone race on the Sunday night before the opening stage.
The “Classic” is a popular race with the fans, but as it has nothing to do with the Tour in terms of times etc it could be jettisoned.
For most riders it’s no more than a crit race and for the sprinters, it’s an early opportunity to practice their lead-out trains. For anyone with GC intentions at the TDU, the only aim is to stay out of trouble.
So in its place you could organise another stage, thus making the TDU a seven stage event. Whether you start on a Sunday or Monday can be figured out later.
It could be another stage for the sprinters, or a short time trial, although I wouldn’t be starting the TDU with an Individual Time Trial. I’d put it in the middle of the week.
Turtur will tell you that this race is as much about tourism and the people as much as it is for the riders. I’m not sure he sees the attraction in a Time Trial, and when asked says he doesn’t want teams to be bringing extra bikes here. But an uphill time trial could avoid that necessity.
The other reason to add an extra stage to the Tour Down Under is to give him some more flexibility with his route planning.
As it stands, the race has four “must have” stages
• The hilly course around Stirling;
• the now pivotal climb up Corkscrew;
• the Saturday on Willunga Hill;
• And the city centre finish on the final day.
Those all produce sensational racing, and seem to be “nailed-on” fixtures. That leaves only two days to satisfy wannabe hosts in the Barossa, the Riverland and the Fleurieu Peninsula.
Adding one extra stage would mean all the major tourist destinations that fit the TDU’s requirements can be featured each year.
Mike Turtur may already be well on the way to designing next year’s route or he may want to take time to reflect on what we’ve just seen.
With five different stage winners and three changes in the race lead, it’s been a spectacular week.
Simon Gerrans, Cadel Evans and Richie Porte each produced some of the best rides of their career, and we were treated to the prowess of TDU surprise packet Diego Ulissi.
Caleb Ewan gave us a glimpse of his potential in the People’s Choice Classic, emerging Garmin-Sharp rider Nathan Haas finished in the top five on GC and Drapac Pro Cycling had riders in the break on five of the six days in their first World Tour race.
So there was a lot to admire from both the Australian and international riders.
And we also saw an estimated 766,000 fans line the sides of the roads to witness some of the best cycling ever seen at the Tour Down Under.
So not really anything to complain about and certainly nothing is broken, but nothing is ever perfect either.
I can’t wait to see with what Mike Turtur comes up with in July when he announces next year’s route.
The Roar and Skoda teamed up to provide an insight into what life is like for a Tour Down Under rider. Click here to watch the video.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Certainly there appears to be a steady improvement in the usage of the Adelaide Hills. Part of the improving feel of the TDU is it's growing stature in the calendar of events for non-cycling South Australians.
Troy
Guest
Actually, Contador wasn't at the TdSL. Tinkoff-Saxo didn't send a team. Neither did Sky, Giant-Shimano, Europcar, FDJ or Belkin. Most of the top GC riders represented there hardly set the world on fire apart from Quintana. Cunego came in at 20 and most of the others ie Rodriguez, Nibali et al sat in the latter half of the finishers compared to OGE's new young UK signing Adam Yates who came in 11th. So maybe these riders do see it as a bit of a doddle - no pressure/stress, not under the spotlight etc as would be the case with a WT race, the live TV coverage seems to have been almost non-existent. As for moving the TDU to February, that's the hottest month of the year and most people are back at work after holidays. I don't think Turtur will change the calendar month unless the UCI force the issue. Take out the Peoples' Choice and make it 7 stages and agree - remove the time bonuses (although don't think that's likely any time soon). Else it's pretty darn good as it is.
Alex
Guest
Limitations have to do with the classification of the race I believe. The Sunday classic only became a stand alone event when it went protour. Time bonuses have generally always been a part of cycling - the were only scrapped at the Tour de France after contador won the first time (cadel would have won without them that year). Previously in tdu they were the only thing to decide a winner as every stage was a sprint. Then they made it 2 times over wilunga. Then they made a hilltop finish last year. So every year it evolves a bit. I don't think they can extend the length. And a tt is boring always.
liquorbox_
Roar Rookie
I would have a stage before the South Australian start that could be sold to the highest bidder. This might be a time trial around Canberra (I think you could have an awesome time trial there!) or around the rocks in Sydney, maybe Melbourne might like to have a stage or best of all a ride up the mountain in Hobart. Then have the tour move to the traditional start. If the TDF can start in another country then surely we can share our tour around a little bit? The only real option for a TT is a mountain TT as the logistics of European teams bringing their TT bikes to Australia would be an issue for one race.
John Thompson-Mills
Expert
You're right Hutchoman, there isn't much wrong with the TDU. It's just a case of how the race continues to evolve. It's been here for 16 years and has changed a lot in that time. But nothing can stay the same forever. Mike Turtur himself said he wants to grow and improve the race, but he knows that he has serious limitations to deal with. So it'll be a case of a tweak here and there. Sometimes it may not work but I think it's definitely worth trying out a few things. Ditching the time bonuses would be an easy move, although Turtur may argue that's what makes the race so tight and strategic, and therefore more exciting.
Hutchoman
Roar Pro
As soon as I saw the headline of this article, my first thought was "ditch the time bonuses" and there it was as one of your opening points. I think time bonuses provide an artificial result in any race and that winners should be decided on basic timing, not whether or not you can jag a third place on a particular stage. Other than that, a TT would be nice although I don't think it's necessary for this race. Sure, the time gaps across the top of the GC are small, but I think I agree with the points about making the opening race of the year easy on the teams logistically. While I'd love to have some more "Grand Tour" style racing in Australia, i.e. alpine climbs, it obviously moves the event a long way from Adelaide and creates a much more difficult logistical problem. All in all I think the TDU is a really "tight" event that is the perfect start to the year both for teams and spectators.
John Thompson-Mills
Expert
So would you rather have another sprint stage instead of a Classic? Have to agree, I'm not totally sold on an ITT in January, but maybe it's worth a try at some stage.
Robert Merkel
Guest
I don't think there's very much wrong with the race as it is now. In fact, the only thing wrong with the race this year was that we didn't really get to see proper sprint battles. Yes, a dozen transitional stages in a GT can be boring, but good sprints can be exhilarating television. We should have had two; in the end we had zero because Kittel appears to be underdone and Ewan and UniSA weren't quite up to barging their way through a World Tour peloton to contest. As for a TT, I'm ambivalent. They're great for live spectators as you can cheer each rider individually; they're pretty dull television.
John Thompson-Mills
Expert
some great ideas, but the budget for the race would need to be massively increased to cope with the huge logistical challenges. I reckon something like this might happen over the next three-to five years, but with perhaps a maximum of three stages to begin with. excellent thoughts though.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
More crashes? Less fluffing around?
Mark
Guest
I believe they should beef up the the women's event of the three SANTOS crits and create a UCI 'Femme TDU' as follows by inviting the top ten teams with 5 riders and a Uni SA: Stage 1 Sunday as the Classic, Stage 2 Monday currently a free day for the men (free air time) they should create their distinctive Queen stage, (Mt Lofty or Glenelg to Marwson Lakes by Port Adelaide) Stage 3 Tuesday evening a crit race at the host site of the following days men's race (Norwood or Unley) something that occurs Stage 4 Wednesday Modbury to Barrossa Valley Stage 5 Thursday evening TTT at the host site of the following days men's race (Norwood or Unley) Stage 6 Friday The same race as the men's event as this is the mass participation ride. Start just before the general public depart. They won't be compared to the mens race but the generalpublic. Additionally there is a Femme version of Tour De San Luis. The womens race could fit into Asia pacific start to the year. Currently Tour of Oman has women's event and possibly Herald Sun.
John Thompson-Mills
Expert
thanks the for the feedback. Yes, potentially there is room for two more stages so that the race could start and finish on a Sunday, but I'm wondering whether eight stages in January is too many? The answer to that might be, ok, so we move the race, but as the Herald-Sun tour starts on Feb 5, the tour of Qatar starts on Feb 8th and the Tour of Oman on Feb 18, it would really crunch up the calendar to shift it there. Moving it to late Feb would schedule it in the middle of Adelaide's Fringe and Festival and Clipsal V8 madness and would be a real nightmare. Also, February in Adelaide tends to be the hottest month of summer and the kids are back at school, thus robbing the event of a lot of spectators, which as you've seen, help make the TDU what it is. So, despite the UCI Review of the World Tour Calendar, I'm not sure the dates will be shifted.
Kasey
Guest
Aadelaide already has the Clipsal500, the Festival, and a bunch of other stuff on in Mad March, might make it difficult for the cycle-tourists to find accommodation? Perhaps a move to February could work though? Also closes the gap between the TDU and Milan-SanRemo.
Andrew
Guest
It should have two more stages and the time bonuses should go as it creates an artificial advantage for the sprinters on a relatively short race..
Midfield general
Guest
There is an article written by Will Walker in the Cycling Tips website about why top GC riders are preferring to go to Tour De San Louis in Argentina rather than TDU. This race having a TT and longer 10+km climbs are main reasons why the likes of Nibali and Contador are there instead of here... I agree the criterium should be ditched in favour of another stage ( or 2 , since Monday is a bit of wasted day) . They have a whole week so the organizers should be able to provide something for everybody, ie GC, sprinters and even TT. Is it also possible that some Euros are put off by the idea of riding around 'the hottest city on earth' ( I've read somewhere that it's official) , moving the date to Feb /March might be more attractive, although the racing calendar probably won't allow it.