Tour Down Under

Tour Down Under
Race details
Date January
Region South Australia
English name Tour Down Under
Discipline Road
Competition UCI World Tour
Type Stage race
Race director Mike Turtur
History
First edition 1999 (1999)
Editions 20 (as of 2018)
First winner  Stuart O'Grady (AUS)
Most wins  Simon Gerrans (AUS) (4 wins)
Most recent  Daryl Impey (RSA)

The Tour Down Under is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. The race attracts riders from all over the world. The race was established in 1999 with the support of then Premier of South Australia John Olsen as part of an effort to fill the gap in the state's sporting calendar left by the move of the Australian Grand Prix from Adelaide to Melbourne, Victoria.[1] In 2005, the Tour Down Under was promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale to the highest ranking outside Europe. In 2007 Premier Mike Rann and tourism minister Jane Lomax Smith launched a campaign for the Tour Down Under to become the first race outside of Europe to secure ProTour status from the UCI. ProTour status would guarantee all the world's top teams.[2] In 2008 the Tour Down Under became the first UCI ProTour in Australia, and the following year it became the inaugural event of the UCI World Ranking calendar.

In September 2008 Rann said Lance Armstrong would make his comeback at the 2009 race.[3] Armstrong's participation saw visitor numbers doubled, the economic impact more than doubled (from $17.3 million in 2008 to $39 million in 2009) and media coverage increased five-fold.[4] The 2010 Tour Down Under was named Australia's Best Major Event for the second year in a row in the Qantas Tourism Awards. Armstrong participated in three successive Tour Down Under events, retiring after 2011. The 2011 Tour Down Under had an economic impact of $43 million and crowds of more than 782,000.[5] In 2013, it attracted more than 760,400 people to Adelaide and regional South Australia across eight days, including 40,000 interstate and international visitors who travelled there for the event.

History

List of overall winners

Rider Team
1999 Australia Stuart O'Grady (AUS) Crédit Agricole
2000 France Gilles Maignan (FRA) AG2R Prévoyance
2001 Australia Stuart O'Grady (AUS) Crédit Agricole
2002 Australia Michael Rogers (AUS) Australian Institute of Sport
2003 Spain Mikel Astarloza (ESP) AG2R Prévoyance
2004 Australia Patrick Jonker (AUS) UniSA-Australia
2005 Spain Luis León Sánchez (ESP) Liberty Seguros–Würth
2006 Australia Simon Gerrans (AUS) AG2R Prévoyance
2007 Switzerland Martin Elmiger (SUI) AG2R Prévoyance
2008 Germany André Greipel (GER) Team High Road
2009 Australia Allan Davis (AUS) Quick-Step
2010 Germany André Greipel (GER) Team HTC–Columbia
2011 Australia Cameron Meyer (AUS) Garmin–Cervélo
2012 Australia Simon Gerrans (AUS) GreenEDGE
2013 Netherlands Tom-Jelte Slagter (NED) Blanco Pro Cycling
2014 Australia Simon Gerrans (AUS) Orica–GreenEDGE
2015 Australia Rohan Dennis (AUS) BMC Racing Team
2016 Australia Simon Gerrans (AUS) Orica–GreenEDGE
2017 Australia Richie Porte (AUS) BMC Racing Team
2018 South Africa Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton–Scott

Simon Gerrans has won the Tour four times (2006, 2012, 2014, and 2016). Stuart O'Grady (1999 and 2001) and André Greipel (2008 and 2010) have won the Tour Down Under twice. No winner has successfully defended his title.

Winners by country

#CountryVictories
1  Australia 11
2  Germany 2
 Spain 2
4  France 1
 Netherlands 1
 South Africa 1
  Switzerland 1

Tour directors

Course

The Tour generally features stages surrounding Adelaide, from flat to undulating. There are no high mountains, giving pure climbers few opportunities. The penultimate stage involves two laps of Willunga Hill, a 3 km climb at an average of 7.6%.[6] However most tour stages finish as a bunch sprint.

South Australia in late January is often hot. Daily maximum temperatures approaching or exceeding 40 °C (104 °F) are not uncommon.

Jerseys

Leaders of competitions within the race wear a distinctive jersey.[7]

Current jerseys

  • The Ochre jersey is awarded to the rider with the lowest cumulative time at the end of each stage and to the winner at the end. Ochre is associated with Australia and the Tour Down Under is unique in having it for the leader's jersey.
  • The Sprint jersey is awarded to the rider with most points and time bonuses awarded to the first three riders across the line at points along the route and at the finish.
  • The King of the Mountain jersey is awarded to the rider with most points awarded to the first five riders over climbs.
  • The Young rider’s jersey is awarded to the leading rider under 23 at the end of each stage.
  • The Most aggressive rider’s jersey is worn by the rider who instigated most attacks, breakaways or helped team-mates to best advantage during the stage.
  • The Winning team jersey goes to the team with the lowest cumulative time by its four best riders on each of the six stages.

Be Active Tour

Participants in the 2005 Be Active Tour at Angaston

The Tour Down Under has a companion event, the Be Active Tour, a recreational events held over the route. The inaugural event in 2003 was known as the Breakaway Tour and attracted more than 600 riders. In 2004 riders increased to 1,400 and the event was known as the Be Active Tour. The 2005 tour saw more than 1,900 riders leave Salisbury, Williamstown and Angaston in 30 °C (86 °F) to tackle the hills and roads of stage 2. In 2006, riders rode 154 km from Strathalbyn to Yankalilla in temperatures in excess of 40 °C (104 °F). The heat took its toll on riders and a heat policy now exists.

In 2007 the name changed to Mutual Community Challenge Tour and it was joined by the Mutual Community Fun Tour and Powerade mini-tour for children. The new events are to increase the popularity of the event and attract people who do not ride regularly.[8] In 2010 there were over 8,000 participants.

Women's Criterium Series and Women's Tour

There used to be a women's criterium series of three street circuits. This was sponsored by UniSA and held at the same place as the men's race, or at the end of the men's race.[9] For 2011 there was a two-race series called the Rendition Homes Santos Women’s Cup.[10] For 2016, the Santos Women's Tour was upgraded to UCI 2.2.[11] The 2018 Women's Tour was further upgraded to UCI 2.1.[12]

Traditions

Obscure Pro

In this local tradition fans treat one unknown rider as a star, mobbing him at hotels and painting his name on the road. The rider must be a non-English speaking domestique who typically acts as a bottle carrier.[13]

Previous Obscure Pros have been:

YearRiderTeam
2010 Arthur Vichot (FRA)Française des Jeux
2011 Angel Madrazo (ESP) [14]Movistar Team
2012 Wouter Mol (NED) [15]Vacansoleil–DCM
2013 Juraj Sagan (SVK) [16]Cannondale
2014none nominated
2015 Boris Vallée (BEL) [17]Lotto–Soudal
2016 Alberto Bettiol (ITA) [18]Cannondale

See also

References

  1. ↑ Keane, Daniel (12 March 2015). "Victoria may gloat about poaching the Grand Prix, but SA gained a lot by losing it". abc.net.au. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "ProTour Heads Down Under", Cycling News,28 September 2007
  3. ↑ Associated Press, 24 September 2008
  4. ↑ Cycling News 20 February 2009).
  5. ↑ http://www.bikeexchange.com.au March 2011
  6. ↑ "Old Willunga Hill Hill Climb | South Australia, Australia". Cycle2max.com. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  7. ↑ "Jerseys". 2006 Jabob's Creek Tour Down Under. Archived from the original on 2006-09-17. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
  8. ↑ "Mutual Community Challenge Tour". Tour Down Under. Archived from the original on 2007-01-06. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
  9. ↑ Stages and Results | Tour Down Under Archived 16 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
  10. ↑ Cyclingnews.com.au. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  11. ↑ | Women's Tour Status Archived 22 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  12. ↑ Cycling Central (28 December 2017). "Cycling Australia confirmed its UniSA-Australia women's outfit set to contest the 11- 14 January 2018 Santos Women's Tour Down Under". Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  13. ↑ Port Adelaide CC Forum "Operation: Support Obscure TDU Pro". Retrieved 2010-03-02.
  14. ↑ Port Adelaide CC Forum "Operation: Support Obscure TDU Pro"
  15. ↑ Port Adelaide CC Forum "Operation: Support Obscure TDU Pro"
  16. ↑
  17. ↑
  18. ↑
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