Being the first race of a new cycling season has been something of a mixed blessing for the Tour Down Under.
Prior to it becoming a UCI World Tour event, there was very much a feeling that the Tour Down Under was really just a glorified pre-season training camp.
Yes it was well organised and the racing was often fast and furious, but for many riders the Tour Down Under was more about getting some decent training kilometres into their legs, and improving their tans at the same time.
That all changed in 2008 when the UCI set up the Pro Tour, which meant all the Pro Tour teams were obliged to attend.
No longer would team bosses be able to send a couple of ‘names’ and a bunch of neo-pros to Adelaide because now there were world ranking points to fight for.
And in cycling speak, points means money. The more you accrue the better contract you can argue for. So suddenly more ‘better’ riders wanted to be here and the intensity lifted.
Twelve months later, interest in the Tour Down Under literally went off the scale as Lance Armstrong made his return to cycling after a three-and-a-half year retirement.
The world’s media besieged Adelaide, and record crowds attended.
The barometer remained as high in 2010 when Armstrong’s new RadioShack team made its racing debut, and likewise 12 months later when the world’s latest ‘jerk’ and ‘bully’ made his farewell bow in Australia.
Last year the debut of GreenEDGE provided the Tour Down Under to showcase another historic moment in Australian sport, and the team didn’t disappoint with Simon Gerrans securing a dream overall victory.
Now in 2013, the Tour Down Under gets another opportunity to write a new chapter in cycling history, the real post-Armstrong era, a clean era.
The past two days of Hollywood-style confessions has been a massive distraction for the race organisers, riders and media.
Apart from sitting through the often-torturous two-part confessional, virtually every interview and media conference has been dominated by speculation about what Armstrong would say and then reaction to what he did say.
Yesterday’s main Tour Down Under media conference, where several key riders were wheeled out to preview the race, was no different but right through the 20 minute session one message stood out: the future starts now.
Defending champion Simon Gerrans and current World Champion Philippe Gilbert were there with 2010 Tour de France champion Andy Schleck, who reflected eloquently on the impact doping has had on his generation.
“When all this started I was 14 or 15 years old. The two guys on my side (Gilbert and Gerrans) are not that much older than me. It’s a bit sad we have to pay the price for what happened 15 years ago,” he said.
“We need to learn from the past but we cannot just focus on that, we need to focus on the future.”
And the Tour Down Under can do that, starting today.
The mood inside the race bubble clearly lifted when yesterday’s questions turned to this year’s race, which could be one of the most challenging in Tour Down Under history.
Tonight though, it’s the appetiser, the People’s Choice Classic – a manic 50km criterium around Adelaide’s East End.
As always the quality of sprinters here is impressive: Greipel, Goss, Farrar, Kittel, Renshaw and Rojas to name just a few.
It will be nice to finally talk about things happening on the road. After a tumultuous off-season, cycling needs it.
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