Perfect weather for launch of "strongest ever" field in Adelaide
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The Down Under Classic, the traditional precursor to the Tour Down Under's official start on Tuesday, gave fans their first chance to see some of the professionals in attendance up close. The team's presentation which preceded the race gave the assembled crowd a little bit of an insight in some of their heroes before the actual racing began.
First on stage were the always popular UniSA-Australia team, followed by the 18 WorldTour squads.
Among the most popular were the locals Luke Roberts (Saxo Bank) and Stuart O'Grady (GreenEdge), but there were also big cheers for Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan), Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and 'new Australian' Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Barracuda).
Eddy Merckx was also on hand for the event, and the Belgian legend took the opportunity to attempt playing the indigenous instrument - the didgeridoo.
See the full gallery of the team's presentation here.
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