For a one-week carnival of racing, we had the honour of calling Adelaide our home for some big parties, big-time racing and a big bouncing kanga on the loose.
Radelaide, you more than lived up to the hype. Pro racing returned to the streets and rolling hills of South Australia's capital for The UCI WorldTour's curtain raiser. Teaming up with our friends Specialized, the ADL_2024 pop-up was a hotbed of adrenaline-fueled action and, some may say, the biggest and best ADL party yet.
Mitch Docker and Pat Drapac got it started as they rode 900 kms from MAAP Lab Melbourne to make it in time for the opening night at our home at the Chateau Apollo. Rolling into town, as fresh and raring to go as when they had set off, Mitch took up residence for the week, live broadcasting his Life in the Peleton pod with podium riders and special guests aplenty. None more so than the Lifeplus-Wahoo pro team unveiled as our partners for the full season ahead.
Set in our Aussie heartland, ADL_2024 proved the perfect place to unveil the Lifeplus-Wahoo x MAAP partnership to the world. Teaming up is as much about pushing limits in the women's pro peloton as it is about forging unforgettable bonds and creating moments that inspire more young women to ride. Kristýna Burlová did just that by taking home the Zwift Best Young Rider for her 4th place on stage one. Determination and teamwork fired forward into stages two and three as Heidi Franz, Kate Richardson, Kaja Rysz, Alicia Gonzalez and Karin Söderqvist mixed it up at the sharp end of the race and took the battle to the WT teams. Adelaide's roads ultimately set the scene for a more-than-solid season opener, with Franz coming in 19th overall on the GC to finish a fantastic Tour Down Under for the team with two top-five results in the can. Primed for Europe, more Lifeplus-Wahoo news will follow hot on the heels of the TDU as the team are just getting warmed up.
As for the rest of the week, the pop-up was packed, the daily rides were revved to the max culminating with the Willunga party on the hill and the MAAP Kanga even made the evening news. The energy was always electric; thanks to everyone who came and shared their love of bikes with us. Shout out to you one and all; you made it one for the ages. We're psyched to see you next year; after all, it's only 352 days to go til Tour Down Under 2025, and we're already frothing for it.
