Santos Festival of Cycling to Fill TDU Time Slot
As we announced previously here, the 2021 Santos Tour Down Under has been cancelled due to the logistical problems in getting the professional teams from around the world to come to Australia and quarantine.
On 7th December event organisers announced that the TDU will be replaced by the Santos Festival of Cycling.
This will be a six day domestic cycling festival including road, track, paracycling, BMX, Mountain Bike and Cyclo-cross.
The program will kick off with the Adelaide Track Event at the Gepps Cross Superdrome followed by a 4-stage National Road Series (NRS) race with Men’s and Women’s stages held on the same day, showcasing the Barossa, Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu regions.
As part of the Festival’s COVID Management plan, selected events will be ticketed which will include limited-capacity entry for the road race start and finishes. A free ticket will be required to access both race starts and finish locations and will be available from Monday 14 December.
In a time that has been particularly challenging for South Australians, Premier Steven Marshall said that he is thrilled that South Australia can deliver an event program to start the 2021 cycling season.
“South Australia has a strong track record in delivering world class events, which create jobs and deliver substantial economic benefit to the state. To be able to pivot, innovate, and deliver a high calibre event, in a new COVID-normal environment, for all Australians to enjoy is particularly exciting,” he said.
You can see more details about the individual events here.
It appears that there is no expo as part of the Festival, no doubt due to current social distancing requirements.