The Santos Tour Down Under is Australia’s greatest cycling race, a 10 day event which is centred around a men’s and women’s UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour race. This is the highest level of elite cycling, and the stage race around Adelaide and its surrounding region opens the 2024 season. The event takes place from 12 – 21 January with a total of 36 teams, and 240 riders combined.
This edition of the Santos Tour Down Under is the second for Race Director Stuart O’Grady, who is a former winner of the race, and Assistant Race Directors Annette Edmondson and Carlee Taylor.
Women’s Race:
Last year the women’s race was held at UCI Women’s WorldTour status after being elevated by the UCI.
In 2024 the women’s race returned to being held across a weekend. Following record crowds at the Santos Tour Down Under women’s stages last year, fans had even more opportunities to get out and see elite riders in action. It also featured the longest women’s UCI WorldTour race at Santos Tour Down Under during Health Partners Women’s Stage 2.
The 2024 event featured the largest women’s peloton with 16 teams and nine UCI Women’s WorldTour teams, with three stages and approximately 311 kilometres of action. Racing concluded on the iconic Willunga Hill for the first time in the women’s race and crowned its latest champion on Sunday 14 January.
Economic Benefit:
The 2023 Santos Tour Down Under injected $66.5 million into our state’s economy, it reached 2.7 million Australians, and the broadcast was shown in 190 international territories. Since 2008 the TDU has injected more than $694 million into the South Australian economy.
In this segment, we hear from Hitaf Rasheed, who headed up Events South Australia, the events arm of the SATC since 2008. Events South Australia, under Hitaf’s leadership, is responsible for growing events in South Australia and attracting new events to the state, and her team directly manages the Santos Tour Down Under. Kate Veronneau, Director of Women’s Strategy, Zwift. Kate originally came onboard to run the Zwift Academy which has helped many amateur cyclist using Zwift to gain professional contracts, including last year’s Tour Down Under Champion, Jay Vine.