With 20 editions of the Tour Down Under now completed, the first significant change to the race since the introduction of the Willunga Hill finish has been placed on the table by Mike Turtur.
Speaking to assembled media the morning after the 2018 Tour Down Under was won by Daryl Impey, the race director confirmed that a team time trial will be included on the race menu “sooner or later”.
The delay in adding a race against the clock to the parcours is largely due to the necessity of acquiring dispensation from the UCI to use road bikes in the time trial.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It will happen in the future, but when, I don’t know," Turtur said. "But certainly a team time trial over an individual time trial. It would be a better fit for our race."
Planning where and when in the race the team time trial would be held is still in the early stages, but Turtur is confident it will add a new dimension to the race, adding the caveat that road stages are still the bread and butter of the Tour Down Under.
"You have to be very careful in the planning of a team time trial or individual time trial. Several years ago you saw Tony Martin win the opening stage in Beijing and the race was over. So distance, discipline, are aspects you really have to think about as some teams are better at it than others. It is a good spectacle if it can be staged correctly with the right infrastructure and information. It is something that will happen sooner or later."
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-time-trial-on-the-agenda-for-tour-down-under
No comments:
Post a Comment