David at the Tour de France, and other Travel Adventures: Stage 5

Since we weren't planning a ride to or from the stage today, George, Kevin and I took a relatively short ride at 8 this morning – toward the beach again, but farther afield this time through some of the other suburbs south and west of Adelaide. We were in pretty heavy traffic most of the time, but saw some interesting areas, and rode down Victoria Street, which was lined with plane trees and mansions.

At 10:30 a.m., we left to drive to the finish line for today's stage, which was billed as the first "hilltop finish" in the TDU's history – at the top of Old Willunga Hill. The drive took about 90 minutes, and we finally arrived at Kevin's boss's house, literally about 100 feet past the finish line and directly across the road from the broadcast booth where the race coverage was being filmed. That allowed us a nice place to park and set up a "barbie" for a lunch of sausage, chicken kebabs and kangaroo meat (truly).

Before the riders arrived, some of us walked about 300 meters down the road, where the crowds were thinner, and we could enjoy the scenery and watch riders like us who were arriving at the top of the climb. I don't know exactly why we didn't do this ourselves, but I guess the logistics just didn't work out.

Back at the finish line, we saw the peleton pass by the first time, and right in front of us they were picking up fresh water bottles before continuing on the last loop. Then the finish: a mad dash between Valverde and Gerrans (a local favorite), with Valverde taking the win. The rest of the riders came in dribs and drabs, stopping right in front of us – they looked exhausted.

After it was all over, we drove home, stopping at a pub along the way for beers. There were a lot of cyclists riding back to Adelaide, about a two-hour ride from the finish, so we were hoping to let most of them get by before we continued. Dinner tonight was at the Adelaide Convention Center, almost directly across the street from our hotel, and it was a special "Legends" dinner that is put on every year. We guessed that there were 2,000 people there. Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen were interviewed first, and then Liggett interviewed Eddie Merckx, who was on his first visit to Australia. They talked about a lot of Merckx's races, his accomplishments, etc., and there was a movie with a lot of old clips. After dinner, Liggett interviewed Matty Goss, a young, very popular Australian cyclist who was second in the World Championships last year. Finally, Paul Sherwen interviewed Robbie McEwen, probably the most personable Australian rider. McEwen announced that the Tour of California would be his last professional race, and that he would not ride in the Tour de France but instead would be there as a technical advisor to Green Edge. Curiously, Cadel Evans, the Australian winner of the 2011 Tour de France, has been a complete no-show all week – not riding, not present. It was great to be in a room full of cycling fans (all dressed up, too) in the middle of this race, and seeing all these legends in person, not to mention a lot of the 2012 TDU riders wandering around. It was also pretty interesting to be an American in a foreign country, in the middle of an event they are evidently so proud of, both for the whole country and the State of South Australia and the City of Adelaide in particular. They're also so proud of the new Australian team, Green Edge, which has done so well and actually has a chance to win the Tour in the final stage tomorrow. Being an American here this week - not such a big deal. Here are a few photos from dinner: