January · South Australia · Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills
Santos Tour Down Under
The first race on the UCI World Tour cycling calendar each year, run across the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa and the South Australian wine country.
The Santos Tour Down Under is the opening race of the UCI World Tour cycling calendar each year, held over six days in late January across South Australia.
The Santos Tour Down Under is the first race of the UCI World Tour, the top tier of professional road cycling, and is held over six days in mid to late January in and around Adelaide. It has run annually since 1999 and was elevated to the World Tour in 2008, making it the first race on the world cycling calendar every year and the only World Tour event in the southern hemisphere.
The race is run as a six-day stage race over five competitive stages plus a downtown people's choice criterium. Stages typically run through the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa Valley wine country, McLaren Vale and the Fleurieu Peninsula, with a final stage finishing on a steep finishing climb at Willunga Hill that has become a signature of the race. Around 130 of the world's best male professional cyclists race the men's Tour Down Under, and a parallel women's race runs concurrently.
The atmosphere on the road is closer to a European one-day classic than a North American race. Tens of thousands of spectators line the climbs and the start and finish villages, and the long warm South Australian summer evenings make it one of the more relaxed events on the World Tour. Adelaide turns into a cycling city for the week, with bike rental, group rides, and a festival village around Victoria Square.
The event is free to spectate. Standard practice is to ride out to a stage finish in the morning, watch the race come past, then ride or shuttle back to Adelaide for the evening's festival activities. The Willunga Hill stage on the second-last day is the spectator showcase and is reliably the most crowded.
While you are there
