Strange Notations From a Laborious Life

Watched a bit of the Tour DownUnder on the box this afternoon and it was a reasonably good stage although professional road racing at this level seems to be very much by the numbers nowadays. They let someone go up the road. They plug the gap. They let the breakaway dangle within striking distance for three hours. They swallow it up with 20 kilometres to go. There is a mad, dangerous dash for the line. Day over. I’m not sure if this sort of bike racing will interest the average punter in Australia. It’s not very exciting and even the purists must find it dull at times let alone someone who doesn’t know a gear lever from a derailleur. Give me a big wheelrace final on a 500 metre flat track under lights any day over that.

But what do I know? Phil Liggett claimed there was 100 000 people by the side of the road watching today. They couldn’t all be dyed in the wool cycling fans. But I can understand that people may be attracted to the spectacle. Cool lycra clothing and pushbikes worth tens of thousands of dollars have taken bike racing away from it’s traditional working class, egalitarian roots and dragged it very much into the elite, multi-million dollar professional sporting world it inhabits today. The Tour de France is one of the world’s greatest sporting events so any old Joe Blow who takes an interest in the race as it encircles France in the wee hours of the morning Australian time can quickly became an office expert by being glued to the television half the night.  But I don’t think racing like today adds anything to the sport in Australia.

Of course professional road cycling can be and frequently is exciting. Mountain stages in the grand tours and single day classic races still provide great viewing but, as with any sport they have their dull moments.

It’s great to have the presence of a bike race in Australia that attracts the top professional teams. As a World Tour event all the top ranked teams, twenty of them in all, have to send a squad. And that is where the Tour DownUnder seems to have an identity crisis. It is, in very real terms, a training race masquerading as something more.

There is a race in Argentina running concurrently with the South Australian event that draws a few big names but generally January is way too early for anyone of value to be showing significant form. Thus the World Tour teams have sent very workmanlike squads. There are few internationals in the race who will likely to be giving Chris Froome sleepless nights come July.

Most of the best Aussies are here although there are one or two conspicuous absences. Porte and Gerrans are arguably the two best locals going around at the moment and are in attendance and Rohan Denis, the defending champion appears ready to make a race of it so there should be enough interest in the race to keep filling newspaper space.

Gerrans fell off again today. He must have run afoul of a Chinaman at some point recently because he seems to make an appearance on the bitumen at every second start nowadays. It wasn’t his fault today although I do think if you race long enough at this level your luck, and your reflexes desert you eventually. It may be time for him to have a think about handing the reins over to a younger man at Greenedge.

The crash today was quite stupid but plenty of crashes you see at this level are. Falls happen, it is the nature of the game but today’s crash occurred as the bunch sprinted uphill towards the finish with the group strung out. The offending rider seemed to canon into someone else and the ricochet effect brought down Gerrans and co. I’m not sure if it is recklessness, stupidity or just plain bad bike handling. Simple fall like that happen far too often at this level. Every youngster coming through the ranks should be made to have a crack at track racing. It may improve some bike handling skills in the peloton.

Tomorrow should be a good stage despite my misgivings about the race. They climb a hill called The Corkscrew where Cadel Evans lit up the race two years ago and it should provide some great racing and some decent television. You can be sure I will be watching.

Have a nice night.