Organisers of the Santos Festival of Cycling today released its 2022 program, confirming an action-packed line-up of cycling and custom racing routes that showcase the best of South Australia from 21 – 29 January 2022.
Kicking off on Friday 21 January with the Adelaide Track League event at Adelaide Superdome, the dynamic nine-day program offers more than 25 events and will highlight multiple cycling disciplines including road, track, BMX, mountain biking, para-cycling, cyclo-cross, pedal prix and much more.
Commenting on the Santos Festival of Cycling program, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing Corey Wingard said the 2022 Santos Festival of Cycling was a much-needed celebration during a time of challenge.
“Our state is no stranger to delivering world-class events. Last year’s Santos Festival of Cycling illustrated our ability to innovate and deliver a highly compelling event in an extremely challenging environment,” said Minister Wingard.
“The 2022 Santos Festival of Cycling builds on that established track record, delivering an outstanding event that appeals to cycling and sporting fans and the broader South Australian community.
“It will once again shine a spotlight on many of our state’s unique destinations and locations, support tourism and job creation and deliver substantial economic benefit to our regions,” said Minister Wingard.
The Santos Festival of Cycling replaces the traditional UCI WorldTour Santos Tour Down Under in 2022.
Santos CEO and Managing Director Kevin Gallagher said he was excited to confirm a first-class program that would deliver overwhelming benefit to the people of South Australia.
“We are thrilled to be able to contribute to an event of this scope and scale to Adelaide and the regions,” said Kevin Gallagher.
“There has never been a more important time to support local business and the tourism industry. The Santos Festival of Cycling is the ideal opportunity for people to explore South Australia, increasing the economic benefits to the communities involved,” said Kevin Gallagher.
Race directors Stuart O’Grady and Kimberley Conte have designed the elite women’s and men’s road stages throughout Adelaide Hills, Barossa and Fleurieu Peninsula.
“The stages are designed to feature not only some of the most iconic scenery recognised around the world but provides a unique opportunity for teams to feature their riders’ particular strengths,” said Kimberley Conte.
“The mix of natural terrain from the lush vineyards of the Barossa to the undulating Adelaide hillside in full bloom, and the gritty coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula sets this event apart on the cycling calendar.
Designing the stages for the Santos Festival of Cycling this year gives competitors, onlookers and cycling enthusiasts an array of new tracks added to the program, for the ultimate endurance test,” said Stuart O’Grady.
“We think carefully about the start and finish locations, every road, each turn for a balanced and challenging stage to create a fresh and dynamic course which requires a high level of athleticism across the peloton of 140 riders will face in January,” said Stuart O’Grady.
This year, the festival features a new and exciting expanded Para-Cycling program including three event opportunities to watch and celebrate our Tokyo cycling Paralympians, as well as several other para-cycling races as part of the Festival Village program.
As the heart of the festival, the City of Adelaide Festival Village is the central meeting spot and pulse of entertainment for the cycling community and festival goers, activated from 26-29 January.
It will hold the Elite Men’s and Women’s Trek Night Riders criteriums on January 26 followed by other racing and demonstrations including Cyclo-Cross, BMX Freestyle, mountain biking, amateur criterium racing and Pedal Prix.
There will also be plenty of family friendly entertainment including an Australia Day kids concert, pump track and waterplay, as well as a vibrant music line-up of evening concerts, announced in due course.
Events South Australia Executive Director, Hitaf Rasheed is grateful to everyone involved in bringing this major event to the people of South Australia.
In light of the recent COVID-19 Roadmap announcement, event organisers underwent due diligence to exhaust the possibility of delivering the Santos Tour Down Under in 2022.
“The Santos Tour Down Under is Australia’s greatest cycling race, the place where world road cycling starts each year and an event that is very important for South Australia. For that reason it was critical that we again considered the possibility of delivering the event in January 2022.
After much discussion and consultation with the UCI, along with a range of teams and stakeholders, we have concluded that it’s simply not possible due to the tight timeframes and impact on plans made subsequent to our announcement just over a month ago.
We now turn our attention and energy to delivering the 2022 Santos Festival of Cycling and invite cyclists and cycling fans from all around the country to travel to be part of it. It has the support of AusCycling and the cycling community, and we want to thank all of our event partners,” said Hitaf Rasheed.
