Rather than be a bystander, cycling and its constituents have an opportunity to be part of the solution to climate changeA graveyard of trees fixes into focus on the screen. The television footage zooms in on their burnt skeletons, thin and black. Dark ash is spread beneath their leafless arms. The camera then catches the peloton, a kaleidoscope of colour blurred against the barren landscape. The riders snake through the hillside; their movements are almost alien, otherworldly. Itīs the Tour Down Under, at the opening of the 2020 UCI World Tour.Months earlier, across the Australian continent, wildfires raged. These fires spread their fury across the nation, reaching a devastating crescendo along the south-east coast. The red, black and grey ate up national parks, vineyards and farmland. It scorched the beautiful bush and damaged ancient Aboriginal cultural sites. With only a slight altering of circumstance, there might have been no Tour Down Under. Continue reading...
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