The Tour Down Under kicks off this Friday, with the women’s race quickly followed by the men’s race for nine days of action in Australia. The cyclo-cross season is still in full swing, we’re weeks away from the World Championships. It feels like it gets earlier every year, it’s still very cold in northern Europe, and yet the Women’s WorldTour and WorldTour calendars are about to kick off, with the Middle Eastern races not too far off either.
The debate over the proper start of the cycling season is nothing new, it is something that has been picked over and debated endlessly for decades. However, it is still a very live question. When does the season actually start? When should people start paying attention? Well, for me, there is only one answer - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
I know that the calendar is now very established as is - the men’s Tour Down Under is returning for its 25th edition - and that these are not end-of-season crits or even training racesIt’s just that, for me, nothing feels truly significant until we get to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad at the end of February. Then Strade Bianche, Paris-Nice and the Classics follow, and the meat of the season is upon us. In mid-January, that still feels like a long way away.
Obviously, the Tour Down Under is a well-supported race, with notable winners, UCI points on the line, and it does matter, especially if you are from Australia or New Zealand, or are a rider targeting a big start to the year. However, from the freezing cold of England at the beginning of January, it’s difficult to be too excited by what’s happening on the other side of the world, especially when the races that I like the most still seem so far away, and it feels like for now everything is a glorified training session.
It’s not the Tour Down Under’s fault that it happens to fall in the part of the year when professional cycling is furthest from its zenith - July and the Tour de France is still seven months away obviously - but it does mean that it is difficult to drum up much enthusiasm for what is happening on the roads of Adelaide in January. This is exacerbated by the fact that the races only seem a goal for some of the riders there, with most concentrating on goals further down the line.
The Tour Down Under does gather more enthusiasm than most of the Middle Eastern races, however, with fans on the roadside, and the riders investing more heavily. When you tune into the AlUla Tour or the UAE Tour and see no fans, or professionals properly using it as some winter training, then it’s difficult to get into it. Does a stage win in Oman in February really matter? A win is a win, and it’s hard to argue against it, but it feels far away from a Grand Tour, or the Classics, or even a victory in a European mid-level stage race.
The season is bloated, this is clear, and I really think less is more when it comes to the cycling season. We all only have so much attention to give, and for me, it is January’s racing which doesn’t make the cut. I’m still in hibernation until Omloop.
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If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com, or comment below.
