Cycling Journal Tourman

  Jay Vine from Team UAE laid the foundation for his victory on the 3rd stage.  The Australian hasn't won a single stage yet.  But the 28-second lead on the way to Campbelltown was enough for the final tally.  On the other hand, Jay Vine took second place on the last stage. The stage from Unley Mount Lofty was won by Briton Simon Yates from the Jayco Aiula team.  The Brit tried his luck at the end of the day on the last 9 km climb.  But Jay Vine stayed on his heels and didn't give Yates the slightest chance for the overall win. Where did the other heroes end up at the end?  Let's look into the past.  Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome have held back noticeably.  He couldn't and the other certainly didn't want to.  You can find them more than 20 minutes behind in the back field.  Froome is closer to 40.  And the German boys.  After Phil Bauhaus's victory, things went quiet.  at least as far as the top results are concerne...

  Australia to Australians.  At the Tour Down Under, the guys from the southern continent always feel bad when a northerner scoops up the most prizes.  After all, you're at home and you want to set the tone.  If there has been a lack of tennis in recent times, you still want to be the champion in cycling.  It was difficult for many to hear that a certain Phil Bauhaus scooped the cream out of the butterpot yesterday.  Today, however, you want to show it to the nation.  Doun under didn't mean under also ran.  That's why there are 4 brave Aussilein at the top of the race.  But others had joined the group.  The boys had the Wiind on the way there and were happy that the peloton was having a hard time. Later.  when things subsided, she was able to salvage her lead.  However, Michael Matthews had to say goodbye with stomach problems.  Then there was the surprise of the day.  The time trialist Rohan Dennis made his fellow sp...

  The boys down there don't call the Tour Down Under the Tour of Australia.  That would also be presumptuous.  Because the radius of events covers only a fraction of the fraction of the continent.  People say Paris is France, but maybe they haven't seen anything else of the country apart from the Eiffel Tower and the Moulin Rouge. Anyway.  Today the boys did a few laps around Tanunda.  You don't see much of the huge continent there either.  After a short journey of 40 km, there were four more loops of 16 km around the city.  Tanunda has a good 4000 inhabitants.  But they are plentiful in the area.  Here in Germany we might not speak of a city.  But down here, Down Under, it's a little different. One hill had to be overcome on each round.  His name is Mergil or something.  In each case it is 230 meters in altitude over a distance of 13 kilometers.  That will be a real Hammerberg.  Incidentally, he had to be ridden...

  Tour Down Under.  The Big Boys get to work. Today the season of road cycling started for the established riders too.  That means we saw a prologue for the first major tour of the year in Australia.  Since everything is of course the other way around Down Under, it's midsummer there now.  It doesn't always have to be sunshine, but it's nice and warm. The first day of the Tour Down Under naturally brought a prologue.  It was 5.5 km long and ran from Adelheid to Adelheid.  In general, the whole tour is located in the area there.  The biggest challenge is probably Willunga Hill.  But there are other hills too. All in all, you're probably on the road more on the flat.  The Aussis and Kiwis like to be in early form this early in the season and show that on the climbs too. But none of them won the prologue.  Rather, Alberto Bettiol from Ef Education Easy Post is in the best of winning moods.  You only saw something of the antipodes ...

  Sascha Weber is the new German Cyclo Cross Champion. It was hinted at beforehand.  Only two riders had the potential to become German Cyclo Cross Champion.  However, the old master Marcel Meisen weakened a bit in the race on Sunday in Munich.  So he had to admit defeat to his old rival Sascha Weber.  Weber had never climbed to the top of the podium at the National Cyclo Cross Championships.  He will therefore be glad that he managed to do it again at the age of 34. Of course, the whole thing also shows the misery in German cyclo cross sport.  There is simply a lack of competitive youngsters.  The two luminaries of last Sunday do not exactly belong to the world leaders in this sport.  And the youngsters are happy if they are not overtaken in Belgium and have to retire.  But it's rather rare. So the result is certainly a reason for Sascha Weber to celebrate.  To wear the jersey again so shortly before retirement is a stroke of luck....

  For a long time there was back and forth on the Cavendish affair.  After Quickstep the Manx screwed up the last tour.  Officially, he does not fit into the program.  Unofficially, some rumored that the Belgian Quickstep team didn't want to unseat Belgian hero Eddy Merckx from the Tour de France throne.  So the time to say goodbye had come.  But the journey was interrupted.  B&B Hotels concentrated again on the core business and that is the mediation of hotel rooms. Cees Bol And Cavendish suddenly had a problem. Bol was to lead Cavendish's sprint train in a bid to snag another crucial Tour win.  As a French team and with Cav, B&B Hotels would have had the tour participation for sure.  But would have….. Now Astana suddenly had to step in.  The matter was made palatable to the team by Cavendish's sponsor Willier, who is paying for Cav and Bol.  Astana does not have enough coal for further arrivals either.  People like Gi...

  The Giro del Sol is basically the Baby San Juan Tour.  This will be held at the end of January.  The Little Tour of San Juan is only for second and third grade South American teams.  Are there any of the first? Driver Already.  Certainly.  But teams?  I do not think so.  So the South Americans romp around in and around San Juan for three days.  The big tour at the end of Jenner stays on these tracks.  In any case, the town of San Juan is the center of the roundabout on both tours.   There are three stages in the Giro del Sol.  They have a total length of 482 kilometers.  The longest stage is the last at 180 km.  All stages end at the San Juan Circuit.  They are hilly in profile.  I'd say they're a little flat.  A local won the tour.  The name Maximiliano Navarrrete will neither know nor need to remember it.  At least if you're not Argentinian. Then in ten days the big boys will start playing...