Surprising winners at Tour Down Under: GCN Racing News Show

There is a theme running through this week's GCN Racing News Show, albeit not by design. As Dan Lloyd sits down to reflect on the past week of racing in the world of professional cycling, it soon becomes apparent that we may see a new list of teams towards the top of the win tables in 2024.

Over the past week of racing, we have seen a whole host of surprising, unexpected and in some cases, brand-new winners, most strikingly at the recent men's Santos Tour Down Under. After the domination of the likes of Jumbo-Visma (now Visma-Lease a Bike) and SD-Worx (now SD Worx-Protime) in 2023, have the past few days given us a sign of things to come over the next 12 months?

The answer might well be no, but for the time being, we can revel in the wacky world of racing that has thrown surprise after surprise from both Europe and Australia, alike. In the land of kangaroos, koalas and KoM challenges between Richie Porte and Alex Paton, it was Isaac del Toro of UAE Team Emirates and Oscar Onley of dsm-firmenich PostNL who emerged as first-time winners in the Tour Down Under.

Both Del Toro and Onley won in style as they announced themselves as winners at WorldTour level, whilst the successes of three-time stage winner Sam Welsford and ochre jersey winner Stevie Williams have left Dan unearthing some surprising facts about their teams. It seems that Bora-Hansgrohe and Israel-Premier Tech could be on for a whopping campaign as opposed to their 2023 seasons.

Elsewhere, we saw the electric arrival of a brand-new team in Spain, as EF Pro Cycling's new Continental outfit EF Education-Cannondale won both events at the inaugural women's Majorca Challenge at the weekend.

Between Bora-Hansgrohe, Israel-Premier Tech, EF Education-Cannondale and the fresh stage winners from the Tour Down Under, the first block of road racing has already provided ample upsets to hint at an exciting season to come.

As one season blossoms, another one is coming to its conclusion, with the penultimate round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup taking place at the weekend in Benidorm. It was to be the last encounter between Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) before the latter duo turned their eyes to the road.

With Van der Poel looking for an 11th straight victory on his 'cross bike, the men's field was desperate to provide an upset and we were treated to an incredible race, to say the least.

Dan reports on the demise of Van der Poel, the surprising winners across the board and of course, the all-important bits of news from the past week of professional racing, all in this week's instalment of the GCN Racing News Show.

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