Tour Down Under peloton honours Melissa Hoskins with minute’s silence

First stage opens with a sombre tone as Australian riders remember former teammate and friend

02:59, Friday 12th January 2024

GCN

The GCN team

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The Tour Down Under peloton holds a minute's silence after the death of Melissa Hoskins

The first morning of the Tour Down Under is usually a time of excitement, with the peloton raring to kick off the WorldTour season, and the Australian riders relishing the chance to race at home.

This year, however, the women’s race started on a much more sombre note, as the peloton preceded the race with a minute’s silence remembering Melissa Hoskins, a retired pro and former teammate of many, whose death last month shocked the Australian cycling community.

Hoskins was a decorated track rider, world champion and Olympian, who also rode for Orica-AIS - now Liv AlUla Jayco - on the road between 2012 and 2015, crossing paths with the likes of Amanda Spratt, Alex Manly and Sarah Roy, all on the start line of the Tour Down Under on Friday.

“There’s a lot of people here that knew her. A lot of national riders, a lot of international riders. She lived here, she trained here, and it’s a really sad few weeks for us as a cycling community,” assistant race director Annette Edmondson told the press before the start of the race.

“We are going to spend that minute remembering her.”

At the start of stage 1 in Hahndorf on Friday morning, the pre-race excitement and hubbub was still there, but thoughts of Hoskins were in racers’ minds. Many riders found it too difficult to talk about their lost friend.

“It’s a really, really hard situation for everyone to be in. We just want to remember Mel for her amazing personality. She was a light, and she shone it across so many people,” Edmondson said of Hoskins.

The minute’s silence, held just after a welcoming from the Kaurna aboriginal community and the Australian national anthem, was an emotional moment, and a sombre way to start a race that is usually known for its cheerful atmosphere.

Among the spectators, a few ‘Ride for Melissa’ signs were dotted around the crowd, exemplifying the impact Hoskins left on not only the riders and teams but also the wider community of cyclists and fans in Australia.

Riders bowed their heads in respect, many clearly moved by the occasion. At its end, a tearful assistant race director Carlee Taylor climbed into the lead car, emotional but now onto the race at hand.

Though it had clearly been a difficult morning, there was a feeling amongst the peloton that what Hoskins, part of an early generation of Australian road racers, would have wanted was for the riders to race on.

“I hope that we can all remember her and then give her and their family the respect that they want,” Alex Manly said before the race. “So that’s to honour her but then move on to the racing, as that’s what they would like.”