In November 2020, organisers confirmed the twenty-third edition of the race would be cancelled owing to logistical and quarantine complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, although a local cycling festival would proceed in some form.
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.