Tour Down Under 2008

Intermediate Sprint, originally uploaded by lesleykng.

Today was the opening of the Tour Down Under, cycling's first and only non-european UCI accredited event.

Okay. So maybe its not the Tour de France... in fact, I wouldn't even compare it to the Tour de France. You may not have had the big-name cyclists participating but the spectators didn't really care to be honest.

The streets of glenelg were transformed into a racing circuit for 110+ professional cyclists doing a 2.0 km loop x 25 laps. All kilometers were lined (packed) by spectators on both sides of the road cheering cyclists every time they would lap. Many didn't even know who these people were or what the mechanics of the race was all about (like my wife...) but they nonetheless enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

Kudos to the organizers. Lets hope this event stays and grows in the coming years.