The Santos Tour Down Under is a professional cycling race held in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and is usually the first event of the UCI World Tour and features all 19 World Tour Teams.
It also incorporates a UCI Women’s Pro Series event and a one day circuit race.
The Race was established in 1999, to compensate for moving the Australian Grand Prix from Adelaide to Melbourne.
The Race is held in the middle of the Australian Summer (January) and features stages that includes Hills and Flat sections over 6 days of racing.
The event attracts all the Top Teams, as well as a national Australian Team of riders who don’t have full time professional contracts. Teams are made up of 6 riders.
Australian Riders have won the event 12 times, out of 21 races. Simon Gerrans has won the Tour 4 times (2206, 2012, 2014& 2016). Stuart O’Grady, Andre Greipel, Daryl Impey and Richie Porte have each won the Tour twice.
The Tour generally features stages surrounding Adelaide, from flat to undulating. There are no high mountains anywhere near Adelaide, so pure climbers have few opportunities to excel.
The penultimate stage (Queen Stage) usually involves (at least) two laps of Willunga Hill, a 3km climb at an average gradient of 7.6%. However, most stages finish in a bunch sprint.
South Australia in late January is often hot, with daily maximum temperatures approaching 40° C (104°F) – a temperature that can be dangerous to riders.
The Tour Down Under will not be held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, but in its place will be a locally focused Festival of Cycling.
From the Press Release: “The Festival replaces the traditional UCI World Tour, which cannot go ahead due to international border closures and associated quarantine requirements for visiting international teams, but retains an elite profile.”
“The Santos of Festival of Cycling is the perfect opportunity to not only showcase some of our best athletes, but to tap into Australia’s enduring and growing passion for recreational cycling in all its forms.”
“The Festival is primed to still deliver a wonderful experience for cycling fans to enjoy, bringing together Australia’ best with some of the world’s best across a arrange of disciplines – road, track, BMX, mountain biking, paracycling, cyclocross and much more.”
Hopefully, the Santos Tour Down Under will be able to return in 2022.