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The 2008 ProTour is now upon us. Cyclingpost.com's Michael Holden takes a look the first race of the season - The Down Under Classic.

91 days. That’s how long it has been since Damiano Cunego held off fellow Italian Ricardo Ricco to claim an exciting Giro di Lombardia win.

Fast forward barely 3 months and we now find ourselves on the eve of the first ProTour event of 2008 – the 10th edition of the Tour Down Under.

A lot of water has past under the bridge since October – teams have disbanded, riders have transferred, controversies including the UCI vs. Race organisers’ rift and doping in the sport have continued. But come Sunday evening, the attention again will be on the racing itself.

With the Tour Down Under receiving elevated UCI status and the race celebrating 10 years of unbridled success, the event has certainly grown in size and stature.

The Race
The TDU is made up of two events; Sunday evening’s Down Under Classic and the 6 stage, 785 km Tour Down Under, held from Tuesday through to Sunday.

The Down Under Classic has had a change of venue this year, although the format remains the same. Riders will tackle 25 laps of a 2 kilometre pancake flat ‘L’ shape circuit at the popular seaside town of Glenelg. If history is anything to go by, expect the action to be fast with the race taking just over an hour to cover the 50 kilometres.

The Down Under Classic has no bearing the overall standings of the Tour Down Under, so the race should come down to a straight shoot-out between the sprinters.

Mark Renshaw (Credit Agricole) will be back to defend his 2007 victory, but will face some stiff competition from the likes of fellow Australians Robbie McEwen (Silence-Lotto), Graeme Brown (Rabobank) and Allan Davis (Australia-UniSA).

Team High Road’s (formerly known as T-Mobile) Bernard Eisel and Aussie born-come German, Heinrich Haussler are just two of the riders leading the foreign contingent.

Stay posted to Cyclingpost.com for all the news race results from the 2008 Down Under Classic, as well as a comprehensive preview of the 2008 Tour Down Under.

© Michael Holden