Tour Down Under Wrap-up

The 10th edition of the Tour Down Under finished up last week, and now I will inaugurate, if you will, a new feature of this blog: race wrap-ups. Here goes! :)

2008 Tour Down Under (South Australia)
January 20-27, ProTour

Winner: Andre Greipel (High Road)
Stage Winners: Greipel (2, 4, 5,6), Mark Renshaw (Credit Agricole; 1), Allan Davis (UniSA-Australia; 3)
Notable Events/Controversies: Elia Rigotto's (Milram) headbutt which took out Matt Hayman (Rabobank) on Stage 4.
Winners: Greipel, Team High Road.
Losers: Matt Hayman, Allan Davis, and Robbie McEwen, who was totally absent throughout.
Pros: Pretty fast racing, especially for January; good if you like sprinters.
Cons: Not once did a break win the day despite many valiant attacks, particularly by the French.
We'll Remember it for: The emergence of Andre Greipel, probably. And the Rigotto headbutt.
What to change for 2009: MORE HILLS! Even the Willunga Hill didn't stop the sprinters from takind out every stage of the TDU.
Overall rating: 7/10, despite the formulaic sprint finishes, it wasn't bad racing for January. The final stage had some tension in it as well, which was good for the race.


I'll do one for the Tour of Qatar and maybe the 'Cross Worlds as well.