Spectator frenzy at the Tour Down Under

On Thursday I followed the Tour Down Under which came to Victor Harbor as part of Stage 3.

Billed as Australia's premier cycle race, the Tour Down Under is a week-long series of races in Adelaide and regional South Australia.  Stage 3 saw the cyclists riding 144 km from suburban Adelaide, down the coastline, then through the heart of the Fleurieu Peninsula, ending with 4-laps of a 13 km-circuit of Victor Harbor.

Each town the race passes through decks itself out, some going to more trouble than others. All I could see for Victor was a set of whimsical cycling kangaroos that surrounded the roundabout the cyclists encountered as they entered Victor Harbor.

I decided that, with four laps to watch, I would stake out four different viewing locations. I must admit that, as a cycling race novice, I had no idea of the excitement I would feel as the police cycles led the way minutes before the cyclists actually arrived, followed by a slower police cycle, followed by a car and then .... the cyclists were upon us. By the time I raised my camera and shot, they had almost whizzed past....

... so I go a lot of bottoms.

Immediately the cyclists were through, came the support vehicles.

 I thought these papier mache figures were hilarious!

I then set off for Location 2, determined that I would get better shots when they came around in the second loop. I didn't. Some nice back views (again)...

but I do like this artistic shot of the headless riders.

I now have to confess that this next shot is not mine but my friend Fred took it.

Then around another corner. All the locals were out cheering them on.

 It was great being so close to the riders.

I was lucky to get this shot of tour leader Richie Porte being shielded by his fellow team members.

The next photo is another by my friend. The cyclists are climbing away from Victor to begin another 13 km loop.

One more loop to go. I walked closer to the finish line. 

Here they had a huge screen set up so you could follow the whole race. This photo is a screen shot, hence the pixel effect.

Now it was getting very exciting. The announcer warned everyone to get back from the barricades as the riders would be travelling at 70kms and be spread out across the road. And then, they announced that, less than 2 kms away, four riders were down. But soon, the pack came in view and I was so excited, I didn't get a shot. I was cheering along with everyone else, many of whom were ringing cow bells (a tradition, Kate tells me) and banging on the barricades. There were too many people anyway, holding up phones and leaning in front of me, as you can see.

But I did get one shot of a rider finishing.

The next photo shows two of the injured riders who finished after everyone else had gone through, with torn tops and bloodied flesh, though the photo doesn't show that.

I made my way to the presentation dais and managed somehow to get a few shots of the winners. I had no idea who anybody was, but there were three or four categories for different types of wins.
Luckily, Kate has since filled me in on who the people are.

This is Norwegian Vergard Laengen.
He was awarded the most competitive rider of the stage. 

This is Thomas de Gendt from Belgium.
He got the white jersey for being the best climber.

This is Richie Porte (from Tasmania).
He is the overall winner of the Tour Down Under so far.

Here is part of the crowd trying to view the presentation.

Amazingly, within twenty minutes or so, the support vehicles had packed up and were on their way out of town back to Adelaide for tomorrow's race.

And then, the strip of road that had lead to the winning post and was crowded with spectators a mere 20 minutes before was just a bare road again.

But what an exciting afternoon. I hope this will not be my last cycling event!!!