Weather-wise .. holy crap. Torrential downpours, ultra humid and hot. The Women's race got the worst of it, and I think this showed with the number of riders who were being shelled out the back and failing to make the time cuts.
Course-wise .. some of the days were quite brutal. on paper they seemed okay, but looking a bit closer on ground it was clear that some of the nice seemingly random detours taken were to include some additional sharp climbs. Once again, I think the women got the worse end of this!
Overall, the racing was an awesome showcase of Australian racing talent. Hopefully a few of them get spotted by the world tour teams in the near future
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
Hopefully we'll be back to a full scale international Tour Down Under for 2023.
I'll pop a few photos below from each of the stages.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/smile.gif)
Full album is here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzzY6R
Women - Stage 1
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51844018730_8ae659d18d.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Women - Stage 1 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51843400263_6dbcd50836.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Women - Stage 1 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51843653194_c3cfb67ec2.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Women - Stage 1 by Carl P, on Flickr
Women - Stage 2
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51842356182_868164d66b.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Women - Stage 2 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51842356797_abbc277050.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Women - Stage 2 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51843296151_4f061b3ec3.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Women - Stage 2 by Carl P, on Flickr
Women - Stage 3
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51843407703_9e4b595e60.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Women - Stage 3 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51842363832_12b8c720c9.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Women - Stage 3 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51843412403_75e1d50a75.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Women - Stage 3 by Carl P, on Flickr
Men - Stage 1
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51851489135_3162af5a0d.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Men - Stage 1 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51850837921_69413c945d.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Men - Stage 1 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51851164694_f9ace0b87d.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Men - Stage 1 by Carl P, on Flickr
Men - Stage 2
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51851167119_1f1448d405.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Men - Stage 2 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51849877372_54bb9848c5.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Men - Stage 2 by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51850909893_126aba3d78.jpg)
TDU Festival of Cycling - Men - Stage 2 by Carl P, on Flickr
Men - Stage 3
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51849880812_442ff69204.jpg)
IMGP8508.jpg by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51850846321_f21c2e1eb1.jpg)
IMGP8563.jpg by Carl P, on Flickr
![Image](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51851173959_92313a5366.jpg)
IMGP8613.jpg by Carl P, on Flickr