By Chris Cameron
Staff writer at Fan Site TeamRadioshack.us


It may have been half way around the world in the harsh southern summer, but it was a fine debut for cycling’s newest team, Team RadioShack. Adelaide, in South Australian, came alive when Lance Armstrong and his new teammates arrived for their first ever competitive pro race, the Tour Down Under.
The team Lance Armstrong, Daryl Impey, Jason McCartney, Yaroslav Popovych, Sebastien Rosseler, Tomas Vaitkus and Gert Steegmans were near the crowd favorites, a great feat considering the current world road champion Cadel Evans was home for the ride. The popularity was even further enhanced when the whole team turned out for the Lance Armstrong's Twitter ride from beach side suburb of Glenelg, a truly amazing event that I participated in along with near 10,000 others.

 
The Tour Down Under
By: TeamTheShack


Act I – The Serious stuff
When we mentioned to someone outside our tight knit sphere of cycling fans that we were going to pass up an evening function because we’d be busy listening to the debut of Team RadioShack at the Tour Down Under; they only half heard us and asked us cryptically…”You’re going underneath a RadioShack? What?” And so might many of your conversations have quickly ended as you hurriedly finished your evening meals in the US, woke up from a deep sleep in Europe, or gleefully lived one day into the future if you were already in Australia.

Santos Tour Down Under

Stage 5: Snapper Point to Willunga, 148km/92mi
By Cathy Mehl
 

It was the Queen stage of the Santos Tour Down Under and native son and current world champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) made sure to give the locals plenty to cheer about.  In the final 30-minutes of racing Evans made a clean break with Alejandro Valverde and Luis Leon Sanchez of Caisse d’Epargne along with Peter Sagan of Liquigas.  The foursome put their heads down and never looked back, at one point grabbing 37 seconds to the group containing race leader Andrei Greipel (HTC-Columbia), putting Evans in the virtutal leader’s jersey on the road.  It was non-stop action in the final kilometers as another Australian Luke Roberts (Team Milram) bridged across with 1km to go and attacked the front runners.  With 500m to go Sanchez saw the opportunity to power up for the win but Evans was hot on his wheel and Valverde was driving it hard too.   Sanchez hit the line first and the 2005 Tour Down Under champion claimed the stage  win in a thrilling final worthy of any grand tour. Second was Roberts with Valverde in third and Evans in 4th place.  Greipel came in some seventeen seconds behind the stage winners but it was enough to keep the leader’s jersey for a 5th day.  Only one stage remains in this 12-edition of the Australian classic.
 
 

Sprint Stage – 148km/ 92mi
January 23, 2010 – starts 11 am local /Friday, January 22, 2010 at 7:30 PM ET



 

Preview
Now, here’s a stage that gets interesting at the end as the peloton faces two ascents of Willunga Hill. A long circuit route to the south of Adelaide, the peloton will battle the 3km 7.6 percent average grade climb starting at 106km and then again at 129km.  The climb is probably not long enough to stop the strongest men in the race, but will certainly be the site of many fireworks especially on the final time up.  Look for someone like Valverde to light it up on the way to the line.

Santos Tour Down Under
Stage 4: Norwood to Goolwa, 143km/93mi
By Cathy Mehl


Driving the pace with less than 10km to go, Team RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong and Tomas Vaitkus attacked the peloton and briefly held the lead before being caught at the 3km mark, putting on a good show of team strength.  But race leader Andrei Greipel (HTC-Columbia) still had his eyes on the prize and managed to take another win in Stage 4 of the Santos Tour Down Under, making his overall total 8 out of 13 stage wins. Team RadioShack rider Gert Steegmans was in the thick of the action and took 4th place, managing to keep his high standing on the overall classification with two stages to go. Second place went to Robbie McEwen (Team Katusha) and third to Graeme Brown of Rabobank.  Greipel retained the ochre jersey of the race leader for a fourth day.
 

Much cooler weather for the day's racing.

We're Ready
By: TeamTheShack
Prior to the 2009 Tour de France, there were lightning bugs of rumors about a new team to be formed for the 2010 season. Not just any team, a team headed by Lance Armstrong. Interestingly, an American based ProTour team. Rumors swirled around a major computer company entering the world of cycling. Image clips from a dormant website were circulated like wildfire as the excitement heightened. But, the rumors proved to be a smokescreen for the real deal. ESPN writer Bonnie Ford (shameless plug for @Bonnie_D_Ford) settled all rumors when she was the first to post a simple tweet on July 22nd, 2009…”Two words: Radio Shack.”


Was it true? Who could confirm the tweet? Are you sure? We know the sponsor cringed a bit when they saw two words, but nonetheless, RadioShack (one word since 2000) was unveiled as the new sponsor for the 2010 cycling team led by Lance Armstrong. 
 

Sprint Stage – 145km/ 93mi
January 22, 2010 – starts 11 am local /Thu, January 21, 2010 at 7:30 PM ET
 




Preview
His is another northern approach that is flatter than flat from 80km to the line.  Bring on the mass sprint!

Santos Tour Down Under
Stage 3: Unley to Stirling, 132.5km/83mi
By Cathy Mehl

Team RadioShack was looking for a win today and left no pedal unturned in their effort to stir things up in the 3rd Stage of the Santos Tour Down Under.  First Sebastien Rosseler got himself into an early break that held court at the front of the peloton until the climb near the 40km mark. Then in the final 500 meters Yaroslav Popovych flew off the front in a brave attempt to get a jump on the group in the uphill finish but he was caught before the finish line.  After a solid day of work put in from Caisse d’Epargne, Alejandro Valverde was looking good to take the win, but coming up the side and surprising everyone was Manuel Cardoso of Footon Servetto.  The 26-year old Portuguese national champion had plenty of daylight between himself and the favored Spanish rider. Valverde slotted into second place with world champion Cadel Evans pushing it to the limit in front of his fellow countrymen to take third. 


 

Relaxing before the race ...