An update on Santos Tour Down Under
STATEMENT
Attributed to Executive Director Events South Australia, Hitaf Rasheed.
The Santos Tour Down Under is an important event for South Australia, and it’s for that reason that we are ensuring we take as much time as necessary to consider fully whether it’s possible to deliver a safe and successful Santos Tour Down Under for South Australia, our event partners, the UCI and the Teams.
There are a lot of moving parts in making a decision like this. There are many many stakeholders, and we have been working closely with them to ensure we arrive at the best possible outcome for all concerned.
The Santos Tour Down Under signifies the start of our South Australian summer and festival season and delivers millions of dollars to our local economy, drives significant media coverage and gives South Australians a sense of pride and happiness. It is important, and its importance is why we have worked so hard to consider if and how this event can be successfully delivered.
We have also been considering alternate scenarios if we are unable to deliver the Santos Tour Down Under with UCI men’s and women’s races in January, including how to present cycling in some format in South Australia in January.
We expect to be in a position to announce our decision within the next week.
We really appreciate the support of our naming rights partner SANTOS, other event partners, SA Health and SAPOL as we work through this process. We also really appreciate the support and interest of the media, of the South Australian public, the Australian and International Cycling public and fraternity.
