The great attraction of the Australian race is the design of its tour. It is a short test, only 6 stages, which is played in a week without leaving the surroundings of Adelaide. The longest stage barely exceeds 150 kilometers. It is, therefore, a round made for sprinters ... or maybe not?
Until 2012 it was the sprinters who found in the Tour Down Under an interesting scenario to put the legs to the face of the season that began. However, that year the organization introduced some modifications to the tour, such as a high end and a stage with a layout full of curves that make it difficult to shoot in large groups.
Although sprinters are still the great dominators of the Australian round, these changes began to arouse the interest of other more complete cyclists, which find a practical scenario in the route of the Tour Down under a practical scenario where the season starts. This is the case of Peter Sagan.
This year the Tour Down Under has released another novelty, although it has little to do with the road. It is about replacing the traditional hostesses that awarded the awards of each stage on the podium with junior cyclists. Mikel Landa, corridor of the Sky, has said that this measure "is the line that we must go. The hostesses in the podiums are left over. It is like treating them as objects, we undervalue them."
Australia does not sound like an attractive destination to compete in large cycling tests. However, this is where the first race of the UCI World Tour calendar is played every year. It is also the first that takes place outside of Europe.
It does not have the media showcase of the large international rounds, it is disputed in just a week and it is common that in some stages the 40 degrees Celsius are exceeded due to the intense heat of the southern summer. With these unattractive ingredients, what interest can you have for teams and cyclists travel to Australia to participate in the Tour Down Under.
This year the main figure of the platoon that participates in the round is the Czech Peter Sagan. In previous editions they have also taken the exit large rollers such as Alejandro Valverde (second classified in 2012).
The great attraction of the Australian race is the design of its tour. It is a short test, only 6 stages, which is played in a week without leaving the surroundings of Adelaide. The longest stage barely exceeds 150 kilometers. It is, therefore, a round made for sprinters ... or maybe not?
Until 2012 it was the sprinters who found in the Tour Down Under an interesting scenario to put the legs to the face of the season that began. However, that year the organization introduced some modifications to the tour, such as a high end and a stage with a layout full of curves that make it difficult to shoot in large groups.
Although sprinters are still the great dominators of the Australian round, these changes began to arouse the interest of other more complete cyclists, which find a practical scenario in the route of the Tour Down under a practical scenario where the season starts. This is the case of Peter Sagan.
This year the Tour Down Under has released another novelty, although it has little to do with the road. It is about replacing the traditional hostesses that awarded the awards of each stage on the podium with junior cyclists. Mikel Landa, corridor of the Sky, has said that this measure "is the line that we must go. The hostesses in the podiums are left over. It is like treating them as objects, we undervalue them."
The great attraction of the Australian race is the design of its tour. It is a short test, only 6 stages, which is played in a week without leaving the surroundings of Adelaide. The longest stage barely exceeds 150 kilometers. It is, therefore, a round made for sprinters ... or maybe not?
Until 2012 it was the sprinters who found in the Tour Down Under an interesting scenario to put the legs to the face of the season that began. However, that year the organization introduced some modifications to the tour, such as a high end and a stage with a layout full of curves that make it difficult to shoot in large groups.
Although sprinters are still the great dominators of the Australian round, these changes began to arouse the interest of other more complete cyclists, which find a practical scenario in the route of the Tour Down under a practical scenario where the season starts. This is the case of Peter Sagan.
This year the Tour Down Under has released another novelty, although it has little to do with the road. It is about replacing the traditional hostesses that awarded the awards of each stage on the podium with junior cyclists. Mikel Landa, corridor of the Sky, has said that this measure "is the line that we must go. The hostesses in the podiums are left over. It is like treating them as objects, we undervalue them."
