There’s an old refrain that you’re going to hear a lot in the next few weeks, and that’s that the cycling season doesn’t really start until Opening Weekend. A lot of people will joke – and some seriously believe – that everything before Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is basically just cycling friendlies, an extension of winter training.
Well, I’m here to tell them that they’re wrong, and by subscribing to that point of view, you miss out on some of the best races of the year. With the Tour Down Under right around the corner, it’s time for us to recognise and appreciate the actual start of the season.
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These races set the scene for the year to come, and help get riders race ready – to only start taking things seriously in March would be a huge mistake for anyone. The same is true for us viewers, too – if you don’t start paying attention properly until Omloop, you’re not going to know what’s going on.
Of course, there is a whole host of racing between now and the purists’ start point of Opening Weekend, but the most relevant – and most under-appreciated over here in Europe – is my beloved Tour Down Under.
I remember as a cycling-mad teenager waking up early before school to catch the end of the Bay Crits that used to kick off the new year – not even the Tour Down Under itself, but the low-level pre-cursor races. I’d then wreck my sleep schedule through January to watch the TDU, Herald Sun Tour and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, lapping up every second of racing after a long winter deprived of my favourite sport.
I’ll get to the racing shortly, but I think as much as anything, the Australian summer of sport is such a tonic to the depths of winter that Europeans find themselves in January, with the images of sunny Adelaide acting as an almost virtual SAD lamp. Even when you’re not actually there, you’re transported to sunnier, happier climes – the same applies to waking up early to watch the Boxing Day test, or keeping up with the Australian Open.
I long for sights like these when it’s wet and cold in March (Image credit: Getty Images)
Cyclo-cross can scratch some itches but nothing really compares to seeing actual road racing, with an actual peloton, in weather that isn’t just a grey sky. Honestly, the Tour Down Under is the perfect January mood lifter.
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What’s more, the racing is actually pretty good, and important for the year ahead. I think both the men’s and women’s races can have some reputation for being relaxed to the point of being unserious, or perhaps the routes aren’t difficult enough to be important.
Having been lucky enough to go to the Tour Down Under, I can confirm that the vibe is relaxed, but that doesn’t mean it’s just a mess around. Riders are chilled and happy, yes, because they’re in the world of sunshine and flat whites instead of wind, rain and whatever passes for coffee in Belgium these days, but that’s not at the cost of being focused or motivated. Turns out racing doesn’t have to all be about suffering.
The women’s race has grown in stature and difficulty a lot over the last few years, and whilst it’s not yet as long as the men’s race, it’s consistently been delivering exciting racing.
Importantly, we often get to see riders excelling who aren’t the usual suspects of Demi Vollering or Elisa Longo Borghini – and often January success will give them a boost for when they return to racing in Europe. For example, Sarah Gigante‘s win in 2024 was one of the most exciting race days of that year, and set her on a path to Grand Tour success – and some of you just slept right through that?
Sarah Gigante produced a memorable win in 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)
It’s similar in the men’s race, where the punchy course often gives those ‘in-between’ type riders a chance to shine and compete in a wide open field, before we get to the Classics and Grand Tours where a smaller line-up of riders will be in contention.
Especially in the era of promotion and relegation, these races are more competitive than ever with so many early points on the line, but they’ve always been races riders wanted to win – once mainly the Aussie riders and teams, and now everyone.
The courses are, unavoidably, easier on paper than in some of the big European races – there aren’t any cobbles or mountains around Adelaide – but they’re not easy. OK, on paper the gradients of climbs like Willunga Hill or Corkscrew Road aren’t eye-watering, but as one rider once told me, Willunga in January feels like a mountain in July. Riders are fresher, the conditions are hotter, the tactics are different, so the difficulty can be dictated by much more than what’s on paper.
It’s all about the context, and if the races were really that much of a cake walk, we wouldn’t see tight battles and winners like Jhonatan Narváez, Oscar Onley and Amanda Spratt.
I know it’s only January, and training camps have hardly even wrapped up yet, but if you’re a TDU naysayer, or someone who usually lets the Australian summer pass you by whilst you’re sound asleep, I’d urge you to give the early season a go this year. Watch the highlights, read the news, treat yourself to an early morning imagining you’re in sunny Adelaide instead of rainy Bristol.
Don’t worry, you won’t be bored by the time Opening Weekend rolls around, and it doesn’t take away any of the anticipation or excitement of that big Classics curtain-raiser – you’ll just be better-versed on the dynamics of the peloton, up-to-date on who’s doing well and who isn’t and raring to go for the next part of the season.