Tour Down Under -

paul — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 02:41:13 +0000

The 2008 Tour Down Under will be held from 20 - 27 January 2008.

The new race routes and event details will be available on our new website from Thursday 12th July 2007 at 1pm (ACST)

paul — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:48:22 +0000

Ride "The Tour" From Mannum To Strathalbyn

Participants in the Mutual Community Challenge Tour on Friday 25 January 2008, will pedal the same 134km route between Mannum and Strathalbyn as the world’s elite cyclists in Stage 4 of the 2008 Tour Down Under, which celebrates a 10th anniversary as Australia’s most successful cycling event.

A shorter ride option of 73.5km from Woodside to Strathalbyn is also available for those seeking a more leisurely ride.

Announcing the new race route today the Minister for Tourism, Hon Jane Lomax-Smith called upon riders to start practising now for the popular Mutual Community Challenge Tour.

"I urge all potential participants seeking fitness and fun to don the lycra and begin training now," she said.

"South Australia’s Tour Down Under gives our regional areas near Adelaide a brilliant opportunity to throw a party and they always celebrate with a passion," Minister Lomax-Smith says. "When the Tour visited Mannum for the first time last year, the community really got behind the event and created a fantastic carnival atmosphere enjoyed by thousands of locals and visitors."

"The Mutual Community Challenge Tour is the perfect opportunity for recreational cyclists to ride the same route as the top names of world cycling in the Tour Down Under," said Minister for Tourism.

"The 2007 Mutual Community Challenge Tour saw record participation, with 2696 riders taking part.

Eric Granger, State Manager SA & NT, Mutual Community, said that Mutual Community was thrilled to be continuing their sponsorship of the Mutual Community Challenge Tour.

"We are pleased to continue our association with the Challenge Tour, an event that ties in well with our bjectives to promote physical activity and healthy living."

o "The Mutual Community Challenge Tour is a must for all cyclists, and the new route against a backdrop of the River Murray will provide an exciting and challenging ride for participants."

The 2008 Tour Down Under features an expanded program of festivities, which will include an extra day of racing action.

Registrations for the 2008 Mutual Community Challenge Tour, Fun Tour and Mini Tour for Kids will be officially open from 12 July 2007. Recreational cyclists can register online at www.tourdownunder.com.au. To make sure you don’t miss out register your interest now with Kylie Wills at wills.kylie@saugov.sa.gov.au

Full details in relation to the 2008 Tour Down Under stages and race routes will be announced at the event launch, 12 July 2007.

PUSH TO GO PRO TOUR

sally — Mon, 21 May 2007 08:03:20 +0000

PUSH TO MAKE TOUR DOWN UNDER FIRST PROFESSIONAL RACE OUTSIDE OF EUROPE
The SA Government has begun lobbying to have South Australia's Tour Down Under as the first ProTour race outside of Europe beginning in 2009, following a meeting in London between Premier Mike Rann and world cycling boss, Pat McQuaid.
Premier Rann says the Government will begin making a serious effort to achieve ProTour status for the Tour Down Under prior to a decision being made in Stuttgart, Germany by the Union Cycliste Internationale Council in September this year.
South Australia will be competing with countries such as Qatar, Bahrain and Malaysia to become the first country to achieve professional status outside of Europe. California is also bidding to join the Pro Tour circuit.
"We intend to lodge our bid by the end of June, but lobbying for it will be ongoing right through until the final decision is announced in September," Mr Rann said.
"The meeting with Mr McQuaid was very positive, but there is a long way to go yet. I will be personally lobbying key figures in world cycling.
"Being part of the international cycling ProTour series will massively increase the Tour Down Under's international television audience and press coverage and significantly increase visitor numbers.
"Because the Tour Down Under is run through some of South Australia's finest landscapes, including the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, the Fleurieu Peninsula, the Adelaide Hills as well as Adelaide, ProTour status will give us the kind of international coverage money can't buy.
UCI ProTour events consist of 20 ProTour teams which are ranked the top 20 cycling teams in the world. At the moment only about five or six ProTour teams compete in the Tour Down Under.
ProTour status for the event will mean that 20 ProTour ranked teams must compete at the Tour Down Under.
"Becoming part of the UCI ProTour event calendar will attract more international and interstate visitors, providing an opportunity to promote South Australia to the world.
"A ProTour status event will reinforce the States position as the leader in cycle tourism in the Southern Hemisphere.
The 2007 Tour Down Under event has been labelled another success with the debut of 14 teams and an increased recreational cycling participation program. The 2008 Tour Down Under will celebrate 10 great years when it is held from 19 - 27 January 2008.
"We will be significantly upgrading the race and looking to schedule in a series of complimentary events around the race to make it part of an annual festival of cycling in South Australia," Mr Rann said.

O'GRADY WINS 'HELL OF THE NORTH'

sally — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 01:56:55 +0000

CYCLING VICTORY: CONGRATULATIONS TO A BRILLIANT SOUTH AUSTRALIAN

Stuart O'Grady conquered the stone cobbles of the 105th Paris-Roubaix one day cycling Classic yesterday to become the first ever Australian to take out overall event honours.

The 33 year-old South Australian and Team CSC champion put in his bid for freedom with 240 kilometres to go when he formed part of an early 30-plus man escape.

The Paris-Roubaix is the biggest one-day race on the ProTour cycling calendar and Tour Down Under Race Director, Mike Turtur believed that this is an event that Stuart could do very well in.

"To tackle the ‘Hell of the North' event and win is an outstanding achievement for any professional cyclist, but for Stuart the victory is all that much sweeter as I know from a personal perspective that he had a burning desire to win the event.

Stuart O'Grady competed at this year's Tour Down Under against the watchful eye of Danish cycling champion and CSC team boss, Bjarne Riis, with O'Grady finishing 18th in the overall General Classifications.

Leeanne Grantham, General Manager, Events South Australia offered a well earned congratulations to Stuart O'Grady on behalf of the Tour Down Under.

"Winning the Paris-Roubaix is like winning a Grand Slam, a F1 Grand Prix, or the US Open and is very, very important in the world of cycling," said Ms. Grantham.

The Tour Down Under is one of South Australia's biggest events, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators, including many people from interstate and overseas with the 2008 event being held from 19 - to 27 January 2008.

Race route details for the 2008 Tour Down Under and team presentation plans will be announced in the coming months.

2008 Tour Down Under Dates

sally — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:20:56 +0000

TOUR DOWN UNDER TO EXPAND IN 2008

Cycling fans will have more chances to cheer on the world’s best cyclists at next year’s Tour Down Under as the event is expanded to include two weekends of elite cycling action.

Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith says the 2008 Tour will include an extra day of racing action, taking it to an eight-day event, as part of the Rann Government’s commitment to grow the event.

“The Tour Down Under will celebrate its 10th birthday next year and what better way to mark the occasion than with an expanded program of racing and festivities,” Dr Lomax-Smith says.

“We committed up to $2 million in extra funds over the next four years to expand the number of teams and increase the race’s profile internationally.

“Next year’s Tour will include an extra road stage, expanding it to a full six-day Tour with one additional day of team presentations and elite cycling displays in the Down Under Classic.

“We are also positioning the Tour Down Under to become one of the first ProTour races outside of Europe and our expanded program for 2008 is another step in that direction.

“The Tour Down Under is already the highest technically ranked cycling road race in the southern hemisphere and we want to take it to even greater heights in the future.

“We are continuing to lobby and work towards ProTour contention with Mr Pat McQuaid, President of the Union Cycliste Internationale.

“The expansion of the ProTour series to continents outside of Europe for the first time is currently a topic of debate within the international cycling community.”

The 2008 Tour Down Under event schedule is as follows:

20 January 2008     Saturday                  Team Presentation
20 January 2008     Sunday                    Down Under Classic
21 January 2008     Monday                    Rest Day
22 January 2008     Tuesday                   Stage 1
23 January 2008     Wednesday              Stage 2
24 January 2008     Thursday                  Stage 3
25 January 2008     Friday                      Stage 4
26 January 2008     Saturday                  Stage 5
27 January 2008     Sunday                    Stage 6

“The Tour Down Under is one of our State’s biggest events, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators, including many people from interstate and overseas.”

Race route details and team presentation plans will be announced in the coming months.

KESAB Best Dressed Town Winners Announced

sally — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 04:38:50 +0000

KESAB Best Dressed Town Competition 2007: Winners Announced

The award winners for the KESAB Best Dressed Town Competition 2007 have been announced. Mannum's impressive entry reflecting strong community spirit and support of the Tour Down Under won them the overall prize, a truck load of product from Peats Soil & Garden Supplies. See below for a full listing of winners:

Overall Awards:

KESAB Best Dressed Town Gold: Mannum
KESAB Best Dressed Town Silver Award: One Tree Hill
KESAB Best Dressed Town Bronze Award: Willunga

KESAB Best Dressed Town Along Route: One Tree Hill
KESAB Best Dressed Commercial Residence: The Green Room, Willunga
KESAB Best Dressed Private Residence: Mr Alan Bigg, The Esplanade, Aldinga Beach

Daily Awards:

KESAB Best Dressed Town Stage 1: One Tree Hill
KESAB Best Dressed Town Stage 2: Mannum
KESAB Best Dressed Town Stage 3: Victor Harbor
KESAB Best Dressed Town Stage 4: Willunga

cyclingnews — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 06:35:39 +0000

Elmiger wins 2007 Tour Down Under as McEwen claims final stage

Swiss rider Martin Elmiger, 28, of AG2R-Prevoyance was today crowned the 2007 Tour Down Under Champion after the action packed 81 kilometre (18 laps of 4.5km circuit) Adelaide City Council Circuit final stage.

"I was very nervous today but the team was very strong, they had a clever race and I'm very proud (of them)," said Elmiger who is a two time Swiss Champion. "For me, it's a really big victory because I've never won a stage race.....maybe my most important (win).

"It was really a super race, so I will say only good things - but also, that it was raining," said Elmiger of the event which experienced wet conditions on stages three and four, the first time in the nine year history of the event. For today's stage grey clouds threatened rain but it held off and the stage was completed in dry, windy conditions.

Elmiger lined up today in front of 25,000 fans wearing the leader's ochre jersey but with only a one second margin back to Tasmanian Karl Menzies, 29, (UniSA-Australia) who had led the tour for the first four stages. With bonus seconds up for grabs the showdown came early after UniSA-Australia worked like Trojans in the early laps chasing down breakaways to ensure the race was all together approaching the first SA Lotteries intermediate sprint at the end of lap eight.

Click here for the full report

cyclingnews — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 02:10:06 +0000

2007 Tour wraps up with a guarantee for the future

The Tour Down Under is helping to put South Australia on the world map and will remain as a major tourism event for the State into the future, Premier Mike Rann guaranteed today.

As the event gears up for its 10th birthday in 2008, Premier Rann says the Tour attracts thousands of tourists and generates the kind of worldwide media coverage that money cannot buy.

“No-one can take this event away from us – the State Government owns the Tour Down Under, we run the Tour Down Under and it’s ours to keep.

“We have backed up this commitment with extra funding of up to $2 million over the next four years to make the event bigger, better and even more prominent on the world stage.

Click here for more.

cyclingnews — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 23:23:31 +0000

2007 best dressed town competition

The first daily winner for the Tour Down Under’s KESAB Best Dressed Town Competition for Stage 1 was One Tree Hill.

One Tree Hill’s entry was described by judges as ‘outstanding’ with strong community involvement, and almost every business in the main street participating in the festivities. The street was lined with colourful balloons, and highlights included a bicycle race for young children, a brass band, craft fair, and a unique sculpture of a bicycle welded together out of metal.

Greenock and Tanunda also performed strongly. Greenock featured a corporate marquee with live entertainment, and a hall of fame of past awards they have achieved in the competition. Other festivities included a sausage sizzle, and balloon and streamers lining the main street of the town. Tanunda’s entry included shop fronts decorated with posters, sausage sizzles, and colourful decorations.

Click here for more

cyclingnews — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 05:18:16 +0000

2007 Tour Down Under set for spectacular final stage battle for overall honours

Swiss rider Martin Elmiger (AG2R Prevoyance) has stolen the race lead in the 2007 Tour Down Under after claiming a two second bonus by finishing third on today's 147 kilometre fourth stage out and back from Willunga. He is now one second ahead of overnight leader Karl Menzies (UniSA Australia) with two more riders within ten seconds of the lead promising a spectacular battle in Sunday's final stage.

"Tomorrow is the final, it's very close, we will see in the sprints, hopefully I make a good tactic and it's easy for us," said Elmiger of his hopes of defending the narrow lead. "You have to ride clever, I can sprint well and I have to try again for the (time bonuses) – I will fight."

But so too will Menzies who is renowned for his explosive sprint and was disappointed he wasn't able to counter Elmiger's sprint today.

"It was a bit of a hectic sprint, there were a few guys doing some stupid stuff at the finish," said Menzies. "He slipped through there, I don't know.

Click here for the full report.