Tour Down Under: Valtteri Bottas and partner Tiffany Cromwell unveil inaugural gravel race at McLaren Flat
F1 driver Valtteri Bottas and his partner Tiffany Cromwell helped organise the inaugural RADL GRVL track race near McLaren Flat on Friday, which saw hundreds turn out to compete.
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On the last day before jetting back to Europe for his “day job”, Finnish Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas and partner Tiffany Cromwell raced in the inaugural RADL GRVL at McLaren Flat.
Almost 250 riders competed in the race that was designed and organised by Bottas and Cromwell, after Tour Down Under officials approached them about creating the event.
Similar to the FNLD GRVL in Bottas’ home country of Finland which debuted in June last year, riders competed against each other around a full gravel road course.
Bottas, who has been in South Australia for the past month, told The Advertiser that cycling was a good way to “escape the hectic F1 lifestyle”.
“Racing cars is definitely the number one thing and that’s still the biggest passion I have in my life and will be for many years to come, but I feel like cycling is a great balancing factor for me,” he said.
“Today was quite hot and we had some really steep climbs and it’s definitely a challenge for anyone whether you were racing or just wanted to complete the course.
“I was in a nice group for most of the ride until I had a little wobble in one section and went down, but the only thing I got is this tiny scratch.”
His partner, Cromwell, who is originally from Adelaide has been competing professionally since 2010 when she joined the European based Lotto Ladies team.
Like the Tour Down Under (TDU) Village in Victoria Square, the RADL GRVL created its own hub just three kilometres outside of McLaren Flat, sitting plumb in the middle of two vineyards surrounded by beautiful scenic views.
A packed crowd surrounded the stage as the award ceremony was called out which saw Victorian cyclist Tasman Nankervis take out the top prize.
Enjoying the inaugural event for the TDU, Canberra local and longtime cyclist Grant Johnston said he hoped Bottas’ involvement in the TDU would encourage better relations between cyclists and drivers.
“Let’s be honest, a lot of Australian car drivers aren’t the most friendly to us cyclists, so having someone with the presence of Valtteri, hopefully, that can get a few little rev-heads to be safer on our roads,” he said.
Tanae McLean from the McLaren Flat General Store said the event nearby was also having a positive impact on the small town, with the local business getting twice as many customers since Thursday.
“Definitely more customers and a lot more tourists which is nice and being in a smaller community, it’s usually only locals around here, but it’s been really good,” she said.
“Today it’s probably been like double of what we normally see.
“We even did catering for one of the organisers of the event this morning where we came in at 5:30 and made up a bunch of sandwiches and also ordered muffins from other local businesses.”
Meanwhile, the Men’s Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under saw the race start in Murray Bridge and end down on the Fleurieu Peninsula in Port Elliot.
Mayor of Murray Bridge, Wayne Thorley said it was a “chock-a-block” crowd that turned out and that it was a welcome event to the region.
“I think our community enjoyed it quite immensely and it looked very hectic in the main street,” he said.
“The local businesses in Murray Bridge I can certainly vouch for that they were all chock-a-block with people coming through.
“It was a really fantastic way to let people know where Murray Bridge is and what’s going on here.”
Mayor of Port Elliot, Keith Parkes said the local community “really got behind” the race and that it was a good place to finish Stage 4.
“The atmosphere and the setting right in the middle of the Strand was a beautiful heritage setting,” he said.
“We had the coast in the background and the ocean, it was the perfect day and you just couldn’t fault it.”
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