2009 Australia's Allan Davis marks his status as the only rider to have competed in every edition of the TDU so far with an overall win.
Lance Armstrong makes his return to professional cycling at the Santos Tour Down Under.
SANTOS TOUR DOWN UNDER STAGES
Stage 1: Norwood to Mawson Lakes - 140kms | Winner: Andre Greipel
Stage 2: Hahndorf – Stirling - 145km | Winner: Allan Davis
Stage 3: Unley to Victor Harbor - 136km | Winner: Graeme Brown
Stage 4: Burnside Village – Angaston - 143km | Winner: Allan Davis
Stage 5: Snapper Point to Willunga - 148km | Winner: Allan Davis
Stage 6: Adelaide - 90km | Winner: Francesco Chicchi
In September 2008, the Premier of SA said Lance Armstrong would make his comeback to competitive cycling at the 2009 race. 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. 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. 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.
The Tour Down Under is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and features all 19 UCI World Tour Teams.
The race was established in 1999. It has seen rapid growth in its first two decades, having notably become the first race to be granted UCI ProTour status in 2008, and becoming the first event of the UCI World Ranking calendar in 2009.
The race is traditionally held in the middle of the Australian summer season and features a series of stages incorporating hills and flat sections over a six-day period.
The rider with the lowest cumulative time after each stage is honoured with the Ochre Jersey. Similarly, leaders in the Sprint, Mountains and Youth classifications wear jerseys to signify their positions in those standings.
The Tour Down Under is currently the highest-ranked professional road cycling race in the southern hemisphere by start list quality.
From its inception Michael Turtur, has been its internationally recognized Race Director. Turtur officially handed over the reins of Race Director to Stuart O'Grady at the end of 2020 race.