England, last of the 14 teams to arrive on the subcontinent for the marathon tournament, have injury problems and have just been beaten 6-1 by Australia.
Free hats and flags were given out by the first teams to arrive and soon a sea of green hats added to the colour of the Waterfront, which provided an idyllic backdrop for the start of the race between 100 riders over a 1, 349.9km course.
Mr Shears and Mr Bannon were one of a pair of two-man teams first to arrive at the flat after the fire broke out when a resident left a curtain resting on a lamp.