I caught a bus out of Adelaide to meet friends but when I saw that the teams were also leaving Adelaide at the same time, I was sorely tempted to tell the bus driver to let me off and grab a ride with one of teams!
Some of the animals to watch out for during the drive.
We arrived at Willunga Hill, a steep climb just a couple of kilometers long.
I've been stunned by how well organized the TDU is. Until today today, that is. For some reason, the finish crew really dropped the ball today: the barricades weren't yet set up, they scrambled to create a footpath in a narrow spot, and they kept moving this massive inflatable beer bottle without any particular plan until they settled on putting it right in front of us. Frustrating. We could still see around it but it obscured a degree of our view.
When the riders had completed 3 laps of a 40km circuit, the soigneurs stretched themselves out and waited for the peloton to finish its first of two Willunga climbs.
A three man break away looked like they barely hanging on. Below: Jens Voigt, Mikhail Ignatyev, and Matteo Trentin.
Adam Hansen (right) wasn't first up Willinga, but he was able to clinch the King of the Mountains title so long as he finishes Sunday's final stage.
The peloton.
Jack Bauer grabbed a water bottle from a soigneur.
Passing a bottle to Luke Rowe.
Marcel Kittel gulped his Coke before throwing it at our feet. One of my friends picked it up and it's now her most prized possession, saliva and all.
Bernie Eisel was part of the gruppetto.
The riders looped down to the bottom of Willunga only to tackle it all over again. This time the first man to reach the top would be the stage winner. It was always going to be a battle between Cadel Evans and Simon Gerrans but Richie Porte came out of nowhere to solo to victory. That's him celebrating below in the upper right quadrant.
He immediately turned around to see how far ahead he was of his competitors. The general classification had a handful of riders within striking distance of the leader's jersey and every second was precious to Porte.
Diego Ulissi finished second.
Gerrans in third.
Evans finished sixth, 14 seconds behind Porte.
The soigneurs looked after their riders.
Porte on his way to the podium.
Manuele Mori, Jens Voigt, Jurgen Roelandts, and Andre Greipel.
After riding 151.5km in the heat, most riders were understandably tired. Ian Stannard, on the hand, decided sat and a chat with someone he knew on the sidelines.
Gerrans couldn't relax yet as it wasn't immediately clear who was leading the GC due to time bonuses.
The soigneurs moved in closer to the finish and blocked the whole road as they waited for the rest of their riders.
Jack Bauer and Rohan Dennis.
There was an enormous crowd, including a 2 story VIP tent, gathered to watch the awards.
Richie Porte with the stage win.
By just 1 second, Gerrans reclaimed the leader's ochre jersey.
For the second time in the 2014 TDU, Jens Voigt was named the most competitive rider for his work in the break away.
Jack Haig of UniSA took the best young rider jersey.
Gerrans also earned the sprint leader's jersey.
Adam Hansen, the King of the Mountains.
After just a few minutes, the crowd had cleared and the dust picked up in the wind.
Jensie and Gerrans both looked pleased with their new kits.
The 4 of us hopped in the car, discussing our favorite moments of the day's stage. There were dozens of fans riding home so traffic was moving slowly. The road curved and I caught the fastest glimpse of referee-style kits: Giant-Shimano!
We caught up to the trio and yelled out to them. There was a moment where Simon Geschke, Nikias Arndt, and Johannes Frohlinger had no idea what was happening, but they laughed once they realized we were cheering for them. We even caught up with the car again once we were back in the city. This time I was wearing my bicycle sunglasses and the driver (mechanic? Soigneur?) took off his fancy sunglasses and offered a trade through the window. No deal!
We did make one quick but important detour to Hahndorf, a German town with a great bakery. Once I was back in the city, I held onto my apple strudel for as long as I could in case Andre Greipel, Bernie Eisel, Jens Voigt, or any of my other friends wanted a bite.
Stage results
1st Richie Porte (Australia, Sky)
2nd Diego Ulissi (Italy, Lampre)
3rd Simon Gerrans (Australia, Orica GreenEdge)
General classification
1st Simon Gerrans (Australia, Orica GreenEdge)
2nd Cadel Evans (Australia, BMC) at 1s behind
3rd Diego Ulissi (Italy, Lampre) at 5s behind