Wednesday - from Lobethal to Stirling

On the way to the start of today's stage, we stopped at Hahndorf, a little German town near Adelaide. It looked charming, but we were a little early and just a few shops were opening up. We stayed for only about 30 minutes before heading to Lobethal for the start. Everything was lined up down the main street, and behind the starting line we found two lines of team cars and vans between the barricades. These vehicles contrasted with the Tour de France, where the teams have multiple cars with custom paint jobs – not to mention the behemoth team buses. Here, nearly all of the vehicles (save the ones for a couple of the Australian teams), are Skodas provided by the TDU, all sporting identical paint jobs and team stickers on the doors. Each team probably has two cars plus one support van. Anyway, we spent quite a while wandering up and down the line watching the teams getting ready for the start.

Jens Voigt giving an interview before the start

After the start, the teams made a loop of about 35 km before coming back through the main street, so we waited around, did some souvenir shopping and had a bite to eat. Once the peloton came through, we jumped in the van, parked just a block away, and made a mad dash to the "King of the Mountain" point, about 10 km outside of town. Here we saw the peleton at the end of a pretty tough climb, after they had slowed down quite a bit. . .

From there, Tony, George and I got on our bikes and made a short ride of only about 20 km to the finish line, at Stirling. A really beautiful ride, with a great descent and some challenging hills. The countryside was lovely, and the agapanthus were, again, in full splendor at every turn.

We got to Stirling in a crush of people and bikers, detoured around the crowds, and managed to get on course just past the finish line. There, we saw the peleton come through for the second of three circuits.

Eventually we found the rest of the group and walked down to a point just past the finish, where we waited for the riders to arrive. We saw Phil Liggitt standing directly across from us, and Tony found a riding buddy of his from Bathurst, so we chatted with him until the riders came by.

In all, we saw the start of the stage, picked up the peleton along the route, AND saw the finish too. A good day for sure! After it was all over, we stopped and picked up a sandwich for me, as I hadn't really eaten anything since breakfast. Tony rode back to Adelaide and I took the van, but I was sorry that I did, as there were hundreds of bikers on the road back to Adelaide. Even the pros were riding along – it was faster that way than waiting for their team vans, I guess. At one point, one of the Française des Jeux riders grabbed onto the van and rode, chatting for a minute while his teammate raced us alongside. At a traffic light, one of the Lotto riders was chatting with a boy who looked to be about 12 on a small road bike, and he was probably in seventh heaven. It would have been good fun to have been in the midst of that.

Dinner tonight was a special deal that was part of the "Club Tour" package – at the "village" in downtown Adelaide across from the Hilton where most of the teams are staying. First, there were a lot of exhibitors and the obligatory jersey purchase(s), then dinner for about 100 people. After dinner, Mike Turtur (TDU race director) and Paul Sherwin spoke to us for about an hour and answered questions. It was pretty informal – some talk about their experiences in pro cycling, then each told a great story about one of their memorable races. They also shared a bit about race radios and the TV coverage – or lack thereof of anything besides the Tour de France. It was all really interesting, and we were sitting directly in front of them, which was nice. They were both very unguarded, a little off-color sometimes, and very entertaining. Afterwards, back to the hotel for nightcaps. Overall, a long and eventful day. Tomorrow we are promised a casual schedule and probably no viewing of the race; it is our one opportunity to see a bit of Adelaide, including the beach.