THE FIRST ‘REAL’ TOUR DOWN UNDER IN SEVERAL years, top-level professional racing will finally return to Adelaide for the 2023 TDU in January.
Completely disrupted by COVID-19, the last real Tour Down Under was held in 2020, just a few weeks before the true impact of the pandemic and crisis began to grip Australia.
With international riders and teams unable to travel, the race’s immediate future looked grim, with many wondering out loud just how severe the pandemic might impact Australia’s favourite annual cycling race.
In January 2021, then again in January 2022, organisers hosted ‘the Santos Festival of Cycling’ in lieu of the traditional TDU. Both events offered exciting racing, were a great outlet for fans, and provided some brilliant opportunities for up-and-coming amateur and professional riders. But they were not WorldTour events and didn’t quite have the gravitas of the previous two decades of racing.
For 2023 there’s a feeling of
