Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
The massive change to the Tour Down Under’s race schedule has meant an overhaul of its course design.
Australia’s top annual cycling race had already announced the men and women would race on the same day for the first time.
Previously, the women had a separate three-day tour in and around Adelaide and then the men followed with their traditional six-day format.
But the last three days of the men’s race will now also feature the women, racing over the same stage routes. The women will start 90 minutes later.
The men’s Santos Tour will run from Tuesday, January 19 to Sunday, January 24, with the women racing on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
At 874km for the men and 397.3km for the women, it will be the longest races since the Tour started in 1999.
The overlapping was brought in to condense the race schedule, help teams with their logistics and make the event more spectator friendly.
“As a cycling fan, next year’s race will be as close to the holy grail as you can get. You can come to Adelaide and see the best men’s and women’s riders in the world in the one day and on the same stage,” race director Stuart O’Grady said.
“By having two races out on the roads at the same time, we had to get creative with our course design and I feel there will be a lot more unknowns next January.
“We’ve had to look for different roads and climbs, so it will be a different looking TDU and I’m excited by that.”
One obvious change is that the start of the men’s tour will be harder. Traditionally a day for the sprinters, it will now feature three climbs of Checker Hill before the finish in the Adelaide Hills town of Gumeracha.
The men then visit the Barossa for stage two and this will be a sprint finish.
Stage three will include two climbs of Corkscrew Hill, a decisive Tour landmark.
The first of the double-header days will take the men’s and women’s pelotons from suburban to Victor Harbor, south of Adelaide.
Two climbs of Willunga Hill will punctuate stage five, before the two Tours end on Sunday with a stage that starts in Norwood and heads to the Stirling circuit in the Adelaide Hills.
Australian Jay Vine won the men’s Tour for the second time this year, while Swiss Noemi Ruegg successfully defended the women’s title.
