{"id":133261,"date":"2016-01-28T15:11:40","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T13:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/?p=133261"},"modified":"2016-01-28T15:25:55","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T13:25:55","slug":"tour-down-under-2016-more-questions-than-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/01\/28\/tour-down-under-2016-more-questions-than-answers\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour Down Under 2016: More Questions Than Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Gerrans wins for the 4th time, can he be another Australian Export?\u00a0Orica Green-Edge will be happy they invested in Gerrans \u2013 his performance as team leader was nothing short of inspirational, and Ewan\u2019s swaggering win in the last stage reminded me of Wiggins leading out Cavendish. Can he win races in Europe as well?<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Was jumping ship to BMC the right thing for Richie Porte?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/01\/12631292_10156561266430160_8827322449916719652_n.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-133268\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/01\/12631292_10156561266430160_8827322449916719652_n-600x511.jpg\" alt=\"Orica Green-Edge will be happy they invested in Gerrans \u2013 his performance as team leader was nothing short of inspirational, and Ewan\u2019s swaggering win in the last stage reminded me of Wiggins leading out Cavendish.\" width=\"600\" height=\"511\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Porte continues to confound expectations, in the wrong way.\u00a0 Porte always performs well and Willunga was proof of that, but he has a tendency to fade on the big stage \u2013 and the switch to BMC hasn\u2019t changed that yet.\u00a0 BMC are no shrinking violets, and it\u2019s not been long since Cadel Evans won the Tour de France for them. The Tour Down Under was richer for Porte\u2019s presence and could have been his big moment \u2013 his first grand tour for BMC and a big psychological boost.\u00a0 But does he have the personality to inspire, let alone command a team to victory?<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Who?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/01\/12604801_10156561568245160_7062233724795977502_o.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-133270\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/01\/12604801_10156561568245160_7062233724795977502_o-600x897.jpg\" alt=\"Gerrans wins for the 4th time, can he be another Australian Export?\" width=\"600\" height=\"897\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Apparently some big names missed the first tour of the season.\u00a0 Instead we were treated to another podium finish for Team Sky understudy Sergio Henao, who also grabbed the King of the Mountain jersey.\u00a0 Lots of riders wanting to make a name for themselves, encouraged by their sponsors will always hit this race hard, and given the low points status in the UCI World Tour rankings, perhaps it\u2019s unsurprising the big guns took a leave of absence.\u00a0 Henao is looking in fine form to support his Team Sky race leader later in 2016.\u00a0 This begs the question \u2013 is The Tour Down Under a second-tier race?<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Is Brian Cookson still the ring master?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/01\/12640238_10156561346170160_212349447231449194_o.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-133269\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/01\/12640238_10156561346170160_212349447231449194_o-600x338.jpg\" alt=\"Bike manufacturers can\u2019t wait for the big names to be seen using discs, and cycling fans are resigned to the inevitable - we will all have to buy a new bike.\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cookson\u2019s difficult job of restoring the UCI\u2019s reputation continues, and the lack of big names in The Tour Down Under didn\u2019t help.\u00a0 Trying to reform a sporting body where <em>omerta<\/em> had become an open secret is no mean feat. When asked if Froome\u2019s absence had damaged the credibility of The Tour Down Under, Cookson pointed out that cyclists are \u201c\u2026not circus performers, they\u2019re serious athletes\u201d. If Cookson finds himself dealing with another scandal he may be tempted to send in the clowns\u2026<\/p>\n<h2><strong>When will we see disc brakes in the pro peloton?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/01\/profimedia-0206949912.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-133276\" src=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2016\/01\/profimedia-0206949912-600x398.jpg\" alt=\"Bike manufacturers can\u2019t wait for the big names to be seen using discs, and cycling fans are resigned to the inevitable - we will all have to buy a new bike. \" width=\"600\" height=\"398\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bike manufacturers can\u2019t wait for the big names to be seen using discs, and cycling fans are resigned to the inevitable &#8211; <em>we will all have to buy a new bike<\/em>.\u00a0 Teams like Astana have announced they\u2019re ready to race the spring Classics using discs, meaning The Tour Down Under is one of the last UCI grand tours using calliper brakes.\u00a0 Is it time to say goodbye to callipers for good?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gerrans wins for the 4th time, can he be another Australian Export?\u00a0Orica Green-Edge will be happy they invested in Gerrans [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":133266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[328,329,334],"tags":[],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-133261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outdoor-mountain","category-road-cycling","category-socialising-and-culture"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tour Down Under 2016: More Questions Than Answers - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gerrans wins for the 4th time, can he be another Australian Export? 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