FanPost

Tour Down Under Classic...

Just to be different here in Australia, we decided to have a Prologue.....but let all the guys set off at the same time.

The Classic (this year re-named 'The Cancer Council' classic to try and get a bit of a one-upmanship on another cancer advisory group that is getting a lot of TDU publicity) is an hour and a bit Crit  of 30 laps of a very fast 1.7km circuit in the Adelaide Parklands.  The location is adjacent to one of the best cafe strips here but that part of the circuit will be chockers so I always find it better to pack the panniers with a nice bottle of Barossa Shiraz, some delicious snacks and head out to Bartels Road where I can plonk myself under a beautiful big gum tree and feel the rush of the peleton whizzing by.  And just a bit of local Adelaide history trivia for you....there was once a plan to turn the Rymill Park lake into an Ice-skating rink...woulda been nice on a 100 degree day eh!!Tdu09_map_classic_600__medium

via www.tourdownunder.com.au

It always comes down to a bunch sprint which Greipl won last year when he was in awesome early season form.  Katusha are going to be hard to beat with Steegmans and McEwan re-newing their partnership once again, but I think that Matt Goss from SaxoBank will have the early season sprinting legs and have the arms raised as he crosses the line.  Watch out also for another trio of Aussie sprinters, Cookey, Alfie Davis and Graeme Brown who are always in the mix at the end.

I bet anyone $100 that I can and will get a photo of lazy arse Moncoutie bringing up the rear....I have every year he's been here so far!!

I'll leave the race write up to the pro's...I'm racing Sunday morning in a Vets Crit and I'll write a brief review of that (if I win :-)