Happy New Year and Happy New Year!
The opening round of the 2024 UCI World Tour is already upon us, with the Santos Tour Down Under taking place from Tuesday the 16th to Sunday the 21st. He will cover a total of 825km from Tanunda to Mt Lofty in six days. Team His Bahrain Victorious will be in Australia with a balanced team ready to fight for victory in each stage and take on the overall GC.
Neil Stevens, Lead Sporting Director, said:
“Four of them are young, new to the race, really excited to be here and all keen to do their job well.So far everyone is enjoying the Australian experience”
“It’s actually a two-part race. Stages 1-4 are an opportunity for sprinters, but of course you will try to cover a variety of areas.”
Australian fast man Phil Bauhaus will be on stage two when racing resumes after the coronavirus outbreak in 2023. His first chance will come on the opening day, a total of 144km across three Barossa circuits. Another possible sprint finish the next day, but this time with a short but very steep climb, Fox Creek. The peloton has tackled this hill twice, decimating the top group, and we’re sure to see those aiming for a win at Robetal take advantage of this 1.6km climb.
Stevens says,
“Phil Bauhaus returns to TdU for the second year in a row. Last year, he was able to finish stage 1 with great support from his team. He’s definitely coming back for the stages, probably in even better shape than last time, and is really looking forward to racing again.”
The third day is also a flat road of just over 140km. It will be a flat and fast finish all the way to Campbelltown, and we can expect a frenzied battle for victory at a blistering pace.
Supporting Bauhaus in the second half of the first kilometer will be Cameron Scott, one of the two Australians on the team.
“Cam is also a rider who was here last year.” Stevens explains. “He’s also an Adelaide boy and a local guy, so he’s been helping us with our training days since we arrived. His job is of course to support the whole team, but also to lead out Phil. He will serve as the last man standing.”
On Friday, racing begins to become more selective. The fourth stage is an uphill finish in Port Elliot, with the ocean appearing in the riders’ sights as they approach the line. Then come the weekend, his GC boys who successfully passed the first part of TdU will be able to compete.
Our leader is Jack Haig, running on the roads of his hometown. Stevens is positive about Haig’s chances as he returns to his home country for the first time in several years.
“the It’s great to have Jack on board. It’s been a while since he played TdU, but it’s great to see him leading the team here. He really wants to do well in this race for the team and the fact that he’s Australian and in Australia is an added bonus!We’re going to do our best to be among the best riders and finish high for Jack on his GC”
Stage 5 brings us back to Willunga Hill. This climb is a favorite of race organizers and spectators. So much so that it has become almost synonymous with the Tour Down Under itself. The distance is 3 km, the average gradient is 7.4% (the maximum gradient is 15.6%), and this year he will climb this course as part of a two-lap closing circuit and then climb it again to the finish.
In addition to Jack, Phil and Cameron, Bahrain will have three new players competing in the opening game of the season: Fran Miholjevic, Johan Preis-Pijtersen, Nicolo Blatty and Thorstein Toran, who will be making his team debut. The Norwegian may be an unknown to supporters after signing from UNO-X at the end of the season, but Stevens is confident in the 28-year-old’s potential.
“Thorstein will be there as a really big support in the mountains and who knows… he might even be able to do well on the GC on his own!”
The other members are all young people, each with different experience in different fields. They are a good group of people who work well together and I look forward to seeing each of them do their best here. ”
The Santos Tour Down Under takes place at the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer, which is why no race day exceeds 146km. And scorching heat is as much a factor in the battle for the ocher jersey as parkour.
The 2024 leader jersey winner will be determined atop Mt Lofty, similar to last year. Finishing: He does three laps of his circuit, which means he climbs the 1.3km climb three times, giving him an average of 7.3% and a maximum of 13.3%.
It was a very positive start to 2023 for TBV, with stage wins for Bauhaus and Pello Bilbao and third place overall. Stevens sees no reason why the results can’t be replicated this time, or even better.
The last two stages are the GC stages. There are lots of hills and therefore lots of action! I hope that I can not only win at least one early stage with Phil, but also push the GC riders into the top overall position.
If any of the GC hopefuls can make it through the week and show their strength on Wilunga and the final mountain, they will reach the “high” heights of becoming the 2024 Tour Down Under Champion.
Let the season begin!