The Santos Tour Down Under will be returning from its COVID-19 cancellations in 2023 with some changes to the normal menu for the men’s race, as a 5.5 kilometre prologue and a summit finish on Mount Lofty have been added while the race staple of Willunga Hill will be absent.
The usual pre-race curtain raiser criterium will run on the weekend ahead of the men’s race on Saturday January 14 and the new Adelaide prologue is then set for Tuesday January 17. The peloton then heads out onto the roads surrounding the capital city of South Australia for five stages from Wednesday January 18 to Sunday January 22.
“The 2023 race routes have been designed to test our cyclists like never before whilst taking fans to the heart of the action,” race director Stuart O’Grady said in a media statement.
“The Santos Tour Down Under will open with an exciting new time trial: the EFEX Prologue around Adelaide’s Riverbank is an event first, taking place on a loop around the Torrens with each rider beginning on the Riverbank bridge and tackling the course individually – it’s man versus clock in this all-out effort.
“More event firsts include a formidable Mount Lofty finisher and a stunning beachside stage start at Brighton – all the race routes showcase South Australia at its very best and we can’t wait welcome the international cycling community back to our state.”
South Australian hasn’t seen international racing since January of 2020 as border closures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in it being removed from its normal position as the WorldTour opening event through the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The domestic Santos Festival of Cycling ran as a replacement instead. The race, however, will not only return to its normal WorldTour calendar slot in 2023 but said it had locked in top-tier status for the coming years, with the UCI giving the event registration on its WorldTour calendar for 2024 and 2025 as well.
The women’s race at the Tour Down Under – formerly ranked 2.Pro – will also shift up to Women’s WorldTour level in 2023. The racing in South Australia for the women will too start at the curtain-raiser criterium in central Adelaide on Saturday January 14, before heading into a three-stage race from Sunday January 15 to Tuesday January 17. The details of the women’s stages are yet to be announced but – particularly with a team of race directors as familiar with the roads of South Australia as O’Grady, Annette Edmondson and Carlee…
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