How race director Mike Turtur keeps the Tour Down Under wheels in motion

TDU director Mike Turtur chats with Reece Homfray about running Australia’s biggest bike race and why he doesn’t ride any more.

Tour Down Under director Mike Turtur. Picture: Roger Wyman.

TOUR Down Under director Mike Turtur chats with Reece Homfray about running Australia’s biggest bike race, stress, Italian food and why he doesn’t ride any more.

REECE HOMFRAY: Why are we eating at Pranzo?

MIKE TURTUR: It’s a convenient, good restaurant in town that we frequent during the course of the year for breakfast, maybe once a month, and we get well looked after.

RH: You like Italian food?

MT: Yes, well my old man was Italian from Molfetta and if I had a preference for eating out I’d mostly go Italian. Growing up, every Sunday we’d sit around a big table and my grandmother would cook a bowl of spaghetti, followed by watermelon, almonds, walnuts, the works. It was the typical Italian Sunday get-together.

RH:We’re one week from the Tour Down Under starting. What’s life like for you at the moment?

MT: It’s good because we do a lot of pre-planning. The village and operations guys have had a bit of a challenge with the construction site but that’s all coming along and travel for the teams is all in place so we just wait for their arrival. Another element starts with the arrival of teams because they request this, need help with that.

RH: So when does the stress kick in?

MT: During the race of course because that’s the nature of the event, it’s a public event, we go on public roads and it’s the unknown. The South Australian Police do a great job, the councils and so on, but at the end of the day we’re on public roads and we’ve got to look at every possibility. Horses have caused us some grief, emus, spilt concrete and rogue motorists who don’t do the right thing, side streets, cats and dogs, you name it.

RH: What’s a typical day for you during the race?

MT: I stay at the Hilton and I’m up at 6am, go to the office for a police briefing then have breakfast with the teams at 7am. Then I do the rounds with the teams at the village to make sure everything is in place. I’ll make my way to the start at least two hours before the stage start time to make sure the set up and barriers are OK. I greet the teams, do the race and following that I see the doctor to see if there are any issues, have de-briefs, do the rounds of the teams back at the village to make sure everyone got back OK, see the race doctor again, go to the media centre, have dinner and I try to get to bed by 11pm at the latest.

RH: It’s a year-round job running the race?

MT: It has its peaks and lows. But we’re now gathering expressions of interest for the 2015 race, then in February and March we’ll go out and look at possible routes. By May and June that’s documented and ready to be presented publicly.

RH: What about talk of the race expanding interstate?

MT: That’s only talk. In a think-tank, anything is on the table and that’s how that came out. We look at different possibilities for the race, what can improve it and where it goes, I don’t know.

RH: You’ve been in charge of the race for all 16 years, do you get to the point where you think “I’ve had enough of this”, or do you love it?

MT: Both. But that’s just the nature of the job. It’s challenging and demanding and I still find those elements quite satisfying. I didn’t suffer a great deal when I stopped racing like any depression or anything about not being an athlete anymore, because the anxieties and nervous tension I feel when presenting this sort of stuff (events at the SuperDrome and the TDU) is the same as when I raced, I get the same feeling. Then on the flipside, when things go well I get that natural high as if I’ve done well in a race. I’m like this (repeatedly clenches fists) at a stage start, I’m a bit edgy, but if it’s a good race and things go well I feel really pumped about it.

RH: A lot of journalists know not to approach you in the 10 minutes after a stage finish, especially if there’s been a crash?

MT: Yeah, well, probably best to stay away for a little bit.

RH: How’s this year’s race shaping up?

MT: Cadel (Evans) has been huge for the race. The interest since he confirmed he was starting has been significant and coupled with Richie Porte and Rohan Dennis all declaring their hand wanting to do well, I think it’s a race that will throw up a lot of surprises. Voeckler, Frank Schleck have never been here, Greipel, Kittel the sprinters. And I think Stage 1 could be more decisive than they give it credit for because if they blast it up Menglers Hill, it could shape the race.

RH: Every year I wonder “how will the field possibly be better next year” and it always is?

MT: I’ve never been disappointed with the field nor the way they’ve raced, in extreme conditions they’ve always raced on schedule and over the 15 years I think we’ve been blessed really with the way it’s been approached by the riders and the spectacles we’ve had.

RH: How do you look back on the Armstrong years of the race, and the criticism the race came under when his doping confession came out?

MT: Well, they’re all experts after it’s over. The reality is the Armstrong opportunity provided the race with a unique situation and we are still living with the legacy now. It put us in the stratosphere as far as awareness is concerned and brought a lot of people to the race who had never been before. People who were thinking about it but never made the commitment to come until he participated. You can say what you like in terms of what’s happened in the last 12 months, and back in 2009 there was speculation (about Armstrong’s doping) but in my mind none of it was solid enough to act on. It was all speculation and back then I was a believer. You might say I’m naive but I’m telling you that’s what I believed, and I wasn’t alone. But we had 100 per cent increase minimum, in every aspect of the race, and we are now maintaining those numbers in 2014. Armstrong fulfilled his obligations to the fullest when he was here, over and above what he was asked to do, so to ask for his money back is ridiculous.

RH: Last year wasn’t all smooth sailing, you lost your spot as UCI Oceania Confederation president. How do you look back on that now?

MT: A blessing in disguise. It’s allowed me to get on with a lot of other things through our company, I’ve renovated our kitchen, bathroom and built an outdoor area so I’m more than happy. Four years ago I decided “OK, if an opportunity came up I might have a look at it” and that’s what happened. I did my four years and I wasn’t overly impressed with the process, but at the end of the day it was a blessing in disguise that I don’t have to travel to the degree I was.

RH: Do you still ride a bike?

MT: No. At my age (55) if I fall off and hurt myself it might bugger up my future considerations for retirement so I don’t want to risk it.

RH: You don’t get the urge to take the bike out of the shed when it’s 25 degrees on a Saturday morning?

MT: I should but I don’t.

RH: Not even on the ergo trainer at home?

MT: No! I hate it. The ergo is not fond memories for me. I did enough ergo work in Charlie Walsh’s backyard to even mention the word again. I do a lot of walking, I walk to appointments but last year I really knuckled down and cut out sugar which has been a big thing and I’ve lost over 5kg and cut out the little snacks like pies and pasties. I’m at the age where I want to enjoy my retirement – if I get there – I want to go to Moonta and go fishing and enjoy a few years up there.

RH: You have a place at Moonta, when do you go there and what for?

MT: February to chill out. Live the country lifestyle and go crabbing and fishing, gardening, clean this, fix that, paint this, and not think about anything else. I’ll get up in the morning and think “I might go down the jetty and go fishing”.

RH: SA cycling was rocked by Stuart O’Grady’s doping confession last year. You’re a friend of his, how did you take that news?

MT: I was shocked and sad. I understand to a degree because I think it’s very difficult to speak on anyone’s behalf because you have not been there and lived it. For me, at the end of the day he’s a good guy, he made a mistake as he has admitted but he’s done a lot of good too.

RH: Cycling has weathered so many storms, yet it continues to boom.

MT: Cycling is a unique sport, especially road racing, because it goes to where the people are. In some cases it goes past your house, your business, through the country, the towns and so on, and that aspect takes the public to the roadside and interests people. Probably 99 per cent of people have ridden a bike in their life, even just as a kid, so they understand a little bit of the challenges of riding a bike. There is no age demographic with cycling, everyone from little kids to grandparents are interested in it, so when you put all that together, the sport offers so much. It’s got the power of the people.

FIVE PEOPLE MIKE TURTUR WOULD INVITE TO LUNCH …

Eddy Merckx

Because he’s the greatest. We were lucky enough to have him in Adelaide in 2012 and since I can remember my involvement in cycling, I’ve followed and admired him.

Sir Les Patterson

He’s my view of the complete man, the way he talks and conducts himself.

The Three Stooges

They make me laugh. I’m not a fanatic by any means but I still watch them at home.

The Marx Brothers

They make me laugh too and I enjoy watching their show. You’ve got to have funny people when you have a dinner because what else is there to do when you have a feed? Have a laugh.

John F Kennedy

Just to get the real story. He would be fascinating to listen to because I reckon he’d know a lot.