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Tour Down Under
The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour.
The event was established in 1999 with the support of then Premier of South Australia John Olsen as part of an effort to strengthen the state’s sporting calendar after the Australian Grand Prix moved from Adelaide to Melbourne, Victoria. Since that time it has been owned and managed by the South Australian Government through Events South Australia, the events division of the South Australian Tourism Commission. It experienced rapid growth in its first two decades, becoming the first race granted UCI ProTour status (now UCI WorldTour) in 2008 and the first event of the UCI World Ranking calendar in 2009.
The Tour Down Under takes place each January and features stages suited to sprinters, climbers and all-rounders. Like other UCI WorldTour races, the men’s race attracts all the top UCI teams, as well as a national representative team made up of riders without full-time professional contracts.
Women's races have been held alongside the event since 2011, with the Women's Tour Down Under founded in 2016. This race joined the UCI Women's World Tour in 2023 – the highest level of international road cycling competition.
Men’s and women’s teams traditionally consist of six riders. The rider with the lowest cumulative time after each stage is honoured with the ochre jersey. Similarly, leaders in the sprint, mountains and youth classifications wear jerseys to signify their positions in those standings.
In 1993, it was announced that the Formula One Australian Grand Prix would move from Adelaide, South Australia, to Melbourne, Victoria, from the 1996 season. Following the loss of this major sporting event, the Government of South Australia worked to organise other major sporting events to replace the Grand Prix, including the Adelaide 500 and the Tour Down Under.
In 1999, the Tour Down Under was established as the Jacobs Creek Tour Down Under. The original event concept was developed by a team led by 1984 Olympics 4000m team pursuit gold medallist Michael Turtur in conjunction with the Government of South Australia.
The first Tour Down Under was a UCI 2.4-class race and featured teams from Australia and around the world, among them GC-Casino, BigMat-Auber93, Crédit Agricole, Lampre–Daikin, Palmans–Ideal, Deutsche Bank Telekom, Team home-Jack&Jones, Saeco, the Australian Institute of Sport, Mapei, plus teams assembled under the banner of 'Team Australia' and 'World Team'. The race was won by Stuart O'Grady who in 2020 succeeded Turtur as Race Director. Current-day professional team Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale has competed in every Tour Down Under.
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Tour Down Under
The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour.
The event was established in 1999 with the support of then Premier of South Australia John Olsen as part of an effort to strengthen the state’s sporting calendar after the Australian Grand Prix moved from Adelaide to Melbourne, Victoria. Since that time it has been owned and managed by the South Australian Government through Events South Australia, the events division of the South Australian Tourism Commission. It experienced rapid growth in its first two decades, becoming the first race granted UCI ProTour status (now UCI WorldTour) in 2008 and the first event of the UCI World Ranking calendar in 2009.
The Tour Down Under takes place each January and features stages suited to sprinters, climbers and all-rounders. Like other UCI WorldTour races, the men’s race attracts all the top UCI teams, as well as a national representative team made up of riders without full-time professional contracts.
Women's races have been held alongside the event since 2011, with the Women's Tour Down Under founded in 2016. This race joined the UCI Women's World Tour in 2023 – the highest level of international road cycling competition.
Men’s and women’s teams traditionally consist of six riders. The rider with the lowest cumulative time after each stage is honoured with the ochre jersey. Similarly, leaders in the sprint, mountains and youth classifications wear jerseys to signify their positions in those standings.
In 1993, it was announced that the Formula One Australian Grand Prix would move from Adelaide, South Australia, to Melbourne, Victoria, from the 1996 season. Following the loss of this major sporting event, the Government of South Australia worked to organise other major sporting events to replace the Grand Prix, including the Adelaide 500 and the Tour Down Under.
In 1999, the Tour Down Under was established as the Jacobs Creek Tour Down Under. The original event concept was developed by a team led by 1984 Olympics 4000m team pursuit gold medallist Michael Turtur in conjunction with the Government of South Australia.
The first Tour Down Under was a UCI 2.4-class race and featured teams from Australia and around the world, among them GC-Casino, BigMat-Auber93, Crédit Agricole, Lampre–Daikin, Palmans–Ideal, Deutsche Bank Telekom, Team home-Jack&Jones, Saeco, the Australian Institute of Sport, Mapei, plus teams assembled under the banner of 'Team Australia' and 'World Team'. The race was won by Stuart O'Grady who in 2020 succeeded Turtur as Race Director. Current-day professional team Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale has competed in every Tour Down Under.