Tour Down Under cyclists warned about follow road rules in Adelaide
TOUR Down Under organisers and police have reminded professional cyclists in Adelaide for the race they aren’t above the law after separate incidents involving two WorldTour teams on Monday.
PROFESSIONAL cyclists in Adelaide for the Santos Tour Down Under have been reminded they are not above the law after police and race organisers dealt with separate incidents involving two WorldTour teams.
SA Police spoke with Team Sky riders on Pulteney Street early Monday morning as part of “Operation Safe Cycling” but no one was reported.
“Police officers spoke to a number of cyclists on Pulteney Street in the Adelaide CBD after identifying a number of traffic offences committed by the group,” SAPOL said in a statement.
“The group was verbally educated about safe cycling in the CBD.”
The other incident involved a rider from Team Dimension Data who was filmed by a motorist holding on to a team car in the Adelaide Hills.
Sport Minister Leon Bignell said he wasn’t aware of Team Sky riders being cautioned but he had seen the vision of the rider holding on to a car.
“I’ve just been shown a video of one person who was hanging on to a car between Mylor and Echunga or Stirling and there is no place for that,” Mr Bignell said.
“People have to follow the road rules and I reckon there would be one thing worse than coming into contact with the South Australian Police for doing the wrong thing and that’s coming into contact with (race director) Mike Turtur who has zero tolerance for anyone doing the wrong thing.
“I think when Mike and the police are finished dealing with these people if they are reported, then they’ll all be aware that they need to abide by the road rules when they are here.”
Mr Bignell said these were not “closed roads” and all users needed to “ share those roads and play by the rules”.
The countdown to the 20th edition of the TDU yesterday continued with the arrival of more teams including Australian sprint sensation Caleb Ewan.
The Women’s Tour Down Under begins on Thursday and the men’s peloton starts racing in the city’s East End on Sunday evening.
“We want to see a million South Australians line the route as we celebrate 20 years,” Mr Bignell said.
Last year’s race attracted 840,000 people, with more than 40,000 people coming to SA specifically to watch the tour, he said.
