The Coffee Ride: Stuart O’Grady puts Elia Viviani on the right track ahead of Tour Down Under
GET your Coffee Ride fix every day during the Tour Down Under as Reece Homfray and Val Migliaccio find the best of what’s brewing behind the scenes.
Tour Down Under
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GET your Coffee Ride fix every day during the Tour Down Under as Reece Homfray and Val Migliaccio find the best of what’s brewing behind the scenes.
ELIA ON TRACK
THURSDAY’S stage winner in Victor Harbor, Elia Viviani, is the Olympic omnium champion on the track so it was no surprise he went to the AdUralaide SuperDrome for a final training session before the Tour Down Under.
Viviani, who won gold in Rio in 2016, borrowed a track bike from Stuart O’Grady and hit the boards to get some speed into his legs and it obviously worked.
Viviani was top five in the early stages before out-sprinting the peloton to win Stage 3 in scorching heat.
“I listen to my body and do a lot of quality and long climbs but I just miss a bit of RPM or a bit of speed, so we asked the organisation and they say it can be a good thing.
“Also Stuart O’Grady gave me his bike so it was a good move this one to have speed in this sprint.”
BANNAN’S TIGER TRIUMPH
NO MATTER what happens with Australian team Mitchelton-Scott this year nothing will top 2017 for team boss Shayne Bannan, and it had nothing to do with cycling.
Adelaide Crows fans might want to look away now but Tiger-mad Bannan is still celebrating Richmond’s AFL Grand Final victory four months later.
Bannan had tickets to the big game and was about to book his flights home from Europe when an impromptu trip to Abu Dhabi came up and required he attend.
So instead of celebrating with 100,000 football fans at the MCG, Bannan was in a hotel room on his own, unable to live stream the game so had to listen to the call on radio.
And given it was 7am when the final siren sounded, he decided it was even too early to have a beer to toast his team’s triumph.
MEDIA IN TEARS
JOURNALISTS were in tears at the finish line of Friday’s stage to Uraidla but not because the TDU is almost over.
Working in the Uraidla Bowling Club rooms, one by one they noticed their eyes starting to burn and then well up with tears.
They weren’t being poisoned but turns out a group of hard-working volunteers in the corner who were preparing hamburgers for the BBQ were cutting up an entire bag of onions.
With ceiling fans going it was enough for some to put their sunnies on and soon after clear the entire room.
— Reece Homfray (@reecehomfray) January 19, 2018
COAST CALLING RENSHAW
MARK Renshaw says he has no idea whether this year will be his last in the professional peloton but he hasn’t ruled himself out of riding the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April.
“I haven’t spoken with Brad McGee about Comm Games yet but we’ll have a chat, the timing is no problem for me because there are no big goals around that period for me,” he said.
“I don’t know much about the course, I’ve heard it’s hard and also easy, so it’s always a possibility I’m there.”
WASTE NOT
THE Bupa Challenge Tour might have been cancelled due to the extreme heat but the food didn’t go to waste.
The TDU crew and team from Ultimo Catering who had already prepared 5000 sandwich wraps and 5000 muffins for participants in the planned ride instead donated the foot to OzHarvest.
OzHarvest is a food rescue charity that collects surplus quality food and distributes it to people in need, and reducing the amount going to landfill in the process.
Ecuadorian conquers Willunga Hill to claim TDU honours
Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narváez has conquered Willunga Hill and will win the Tour Down Under after finishing second in the race last year.
Major update on hurt woman in horror TDU crowd crash
A New South Wales woman was taken to hospital in a serious condition following the horror crash on Saturday night.