Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Stage 1: Tanunda to Tanunda - Pickled Plum

 A hot day, in Tanunda, and elsewhere.

Bang! The race starts.

There goes Team Bora-Hansgrohe. 

They look confident.

There goes Team Bahrain-Victorious.

They look confident too.

There goes Team Jayco Alula.

They look hopeful.

There goes Team Philosophe.

Mm. Not so much.

Let's follow them out of Tanunda.

Wait. First let us look for a stream.

Yes, there is one. The Tanunda Creek, with its summer dribble of water.

And there are Ageless and Kobo, on the bank, each with a bento box, containing their picnic.

And here is Lauren, turning up.

She appears to be asking for something.

Ageless is shaking his head. Kobo is offering Lauren a pickled plum.

But we cannot linger.

The teams have raced through Greenock and Nuriootpa, and are heading up Mengler's Hill. 

How many times do we have to do this? asks Vello.

Weren't you supposed to find out? puffs David.

Someone is bound to know, says Gaius.

The teams pedal furiously, up, down, and back to Tanunda.

They ride past the creek.

Lauren is standing in the creek bed, dipping something into a puddle.

Ageless and Kobo are splitting an orange between them.

But let us move on.

Baby Pierre has caused a few crashes, with his dardevil tactics.

He has few admirers, among the riders.

But most of them covet the bathwater prize.

Fast forward to the finish, and... it's Sam Welsford of Bora-Hansgrohe, being led out by team mate Danny van Poppel! 

Sam Welsford wins! Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain-Victorious, comes second.

Third is Binian Girmay from Intermarché-Wanty.

Good for those guys!

But we don't yet know whether Lauren has been successful.

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