All the Olympic action kicks off of the 23rd July 2021 and will feature 487 Australian athletes competing across 33 different sports. Twenty nine of those athletes are on the Australian Cycling Team and will strive for gold across five cycling disciplines: Road, Track, Mountain, BMX & BMX Freestyle.
Sixteen of the Australian riders across the road and track teams have raced here in South Australia for the Santos Tour Down Under and Santos Women’s Tour Down Under.
In 2021, many of the Olympians had great success in the 2021 Santos Festival of Cycling – a National Road Series race which travelled through South Australia’s picturesque Barossa, Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu regions.
We’ve put together a summary of all the athletes on the Australian Cycling Team who have competed as part of the Santos Tour Down Under.
AMANDA SPRATT
Spratt currently co-holds the record for most stage wins at the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under, alongside Chloe Hosking. She made her debut in 2016, and has since won four stages and taken the general classification overall win three times (2017, 2018, 2019).
Spratt is making her third Olympic appearance and will be racing in the Women's Cycling Road Race on Sunday 25th July.
GRACE BROWN
Brown has competed in every Santos Women’s Tour Down Under event since 2017 and was most recently here for the Santos Festival of Cycling. In 2019, she won Stage 3 from Nairne to Stirling for team Mitchelton Scott (now Team BikeExchange).
This will be Grace’s first Olympics where she will compete in the Women's Cycling Road Race & Women's Cycling Road Individual Time Trial.
SARAH GIGANTE
Gigante stole the show at the 2021 Santos Festival of Cycling where the 20-year-old raced for Team Garmin Australia and won the general classification, the young rider’s jersey and the Queen of the Mountain jersey. Prior to that she raced for Team Tibco -Silicon Valley Bank in 2020.
It will be Sarah’s first Olympics where she will compete in the Women's Cycling Road Race & Women's Cycling Road Individual Time Trial.
TIFFANY CROMWELL
Experienced cyclist and South Australian born Tiffany Cromwell has raced in the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under four times (2016, 2017, 2018, 2020). She’s competed in the Commonwealth Games twice and will be making her Olympic debut in the Women's Cycling Road Road Race event.
RICHIE PORTE
Also known as the King of Willunga Hill, Richie Porte has won eight stages at the Santos Tour Down Under and most recently won one stage in the Santos Festival of Cycling in January. He has competed here ten times and is a crowd favourite.
This will be Porte’s second Olympic Games and you’ll catch him in the first of the cycling events – the Men's Cycling Road Race.
ROHAN DENNIS
Rohan Dennis has raced in the Santos Tour Down Under ten times and in 2015, at 24 years of age, he took the overall victory. Dennis has had an impressive cycling career and won Silver at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
This will be his third appearance at the Olympics where he will be racing in the Men's Cycling Road Race, Men's Cycling Road Individual Time Trial and the Mens 4000m Team Pursuit.
LUCAS HAMILTON
In 2020, Hamilton walked away in ninth position at the Santos Tour Down Under – his best position in the race in all four appearances. Earlier this year he competed in South Australia for a fifth time for the Santos Festival of Cycling where he rode for Team BikeExchange.
This will be Hamilton’s first Olympics where he will be racing in the Men's Cycling Road Race.
LUKE DURBRIDGE
Luke Durbridge is a regular competitor at the Santos Tour Down Under and has raced here nine times. In 2021, he won the first stage and took overall victory, winning the Santos Festival of Cycling for team BikeExchange. Durbridge has worn the green and gold at two Commonwealth Games in both the track and road disciplines.
This will be Durbridge’s first Olympics where he will be racing in the Men's Cycling Road Race.
ALEXANDRA MANLY
Two-time Santos Women’s Tour Down Under competitor, Alexandra Manly will make her Olympic debut on the Track team. Manly was in South Australia in January competing in the Santos Festival of Cycling for Team BikeExchange.
ANNETTE EDMONDSON
South Australian Annette Edmondson is a three-time world champion and sixteen-time national champion. She’s competed in the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under three times (2016, 2017, 2018) for Team Wiggle High5 and won Stage 2 in 2016 and Stage 1 in 2018. She competed in the Santos Festival of Cycling earlier this year for Team Garmin Australia.
In 2012, Edmondson took home Bronze for Australia at the London Olympics in the Omnium event. This will be Edmondson’s third Olympics where she will compete in the Team Pursuit and Omnium track events.
ASHLEE ANKUDINOFF
Ashlee Ankudinoff raced for Team NSWIS Sydney Uni at the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under in 2017, and then came back two more times racing for Team Specialized Women's Racing.
This will be her second Olympics and you’ll catch her in the Team Pursuit track event.
GEORGIA BAKER
Georgia Baker has competed in the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under once in 2018, and came back in 2021 for the Santos Festival of Cycling where she won Stage 4 for Team Garmin Australia.
This is Baker’s second Olympics and she’ll be competing in the Team Pursuit track event.
MAEVE PLOUFFE
South Australian Maeve Plouffe will be making her Olympic debut in the Endurance track event. Plouffe competed in the Santos Women’s Tour Down Under in 2018 where she finished fifth overall. In 2021 she returned for the Santos Festival of Cycling for Team Garmin Australia.
ALEXANDER PORTER
Alexander Porter was part of Team Garmin Australia at the 2021 Santos Festival of Cycling. Prior to that the South Australian raced in his hometown in 2018 for Team UniSA Australia at the Santos Tour Down Under.
He will be making his Olympic debut in the Team Pursuit track event.
LEIGH HOWARD
Leigh Howard has competed in the Santos Tour Down Under twice, first in 2012 and then in 2016. In 2021 he returned to ride for Team Garmin Australia at the Santos Festival of Cycling.
Howard will be making his Olympic debut in the Endurance track event.
SAM WELSFORD
25-year-old Sam Welsford has raced in the Santos Tour Down Under twice, first in 2018 and again in 2020 for Team UniSA Australia. Earlier this year he competed in the Santos Festival of Cycling for Team Garmin Australia and won Stage 4.
In 2016 he competed at the Rio Olympics and came home with Silver from the Team Pursuit track event. This will be Welsford’s second Olympic Games and he will be competing in the Endurance track event.
To see all of the other Australian riders competing in the Tokyo Olympics, head to our Olympic Cycling Guide where you’ll find all the information on the riders, all the cycling disciplines, the event schedules and where to catch all the action.
Tokyo 2020 will be live and free on Seven and 7plus where Santos Tour Down Under Race Director and six-time Olympian Stuart O'Grady will join the Sunrise team on their daily coverage of the Olympic Games.
