Schwag wagon

The excitement for the Santos Tour Down Under is building and this years race looks to be the best ever.

In a race that has the reputation as a bit of a sprinters' paradise most teams are opting for a two-pronged attack of sprinter and roleur.

The mountain-top finish at Willunga appears set to decide the race unless one of the fast men can rack up enough wins and bonus seconds beforehand.

The race also has another serious edge to it in that most teams want to start the season successfully by putting some points on the board.

The UCI ProTeam ranking system is a beast that needs to be continually fed, and teams risk not making the top grade for the next season.

Jobs are on the line so the racing will be intense for what in the past would be a leg freshener for the season to come.

But what about GreenEDGE you ask? Unsurprisingly it dominates the off road conversation. Everyone wants a piece of the team. Word on the street is that Simon Gerrans is the man. I reckon he'll do it too, unless Movistar's Alejandro Valverde comes out to play.

While the riders fine tune their preparations the SBS team is on its game shooting, writing and photographing anything that moves ahead of the race to come, for online and Cycling Central on SBS ONE on Sunday at 5pm.

The highlight for me so far is a chat with Team Sky sports director Sean Yates, whom I always admired for his sartorial style on the bike in his heyday.

Who doesn't like the rolled up shorts look?

I also spent some time talking to Drapac Cycling rider Tom Palmer, who will be riding the Tour Down Under for the composite Uni-SA squad. To say he's jumping out of his skin is an understatement.

But Palmer is also wary of the speed and power of the ProTeam riders in what is his first WorldTour outing. A steep learning curve awaits one of our talented locals.

And of course there is a bit of schwag for the media reptiles including, wait for it, booze. No media centre runs without a bit of lubrication.

But for me the best item in the swag bag is a humble green spotted musette sporting the Skoda logo. This one will definately be added to my collection.

So that's it from me for now, keep hitting the refresh button on you browser for updates throughout the day from Cycling Central. We'll be pumping it out.

Twitter: @Philip_Gomes