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Major Cycling Events

Cycling may be best known due to the Tour de France, simply the most popular cycling event on the planet.

But Cycling in Australia is centered on the Tour Down Under.

The Tour Down Under is a cycling race in Adelaide and its surrounding areas. The race starts on the third Tuesday of January each year and attracts riders from across Australia and the world.

In 2005, the Tour Down Under was promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to the international rating of 2.HC, the largest and highest ranking outside Europe.

Then in 2008 the Tour Down Under became the first UCI ProTour event outside Europe, and the following year it became the inaugural event of the UCI World Ranking calendar.

Tour Down Under generally features stages surrounding Adelaide, which varies from flat to moderate climbs. There are no large mountains in the area, giving specialist climbers few opportunities to show their particular skills.

One notable climb featured involves two laps of Willunga Hill, a 3 km climb at an average gradient of 7.6%. However, it is typical for most tour stages to finish as a bunch sprint.

The Tour does not include a time trial and the conditions in South Australia in late January are often very hot.

Here's a list of recent Tour Down Under Winners:

  • 2010 Greipel, AndreAndré Greipel (GER) Team HTC-Columbia
  • 2009 Davis, AllanAllan Davis (AUS) Quick Step
  • 2008 Greipel, ANdreAndré Greipel (GER) Team High Road
  • 2007 Elmiger, MartinMartin Elmiger (SUI) AG2R Prévoyance
  • 2006 Gerrans, SimonSimon Gerrans (AUS) AG2R Prévoyance
  • 2005 Sanchez, Luis LeonLuis León Sánchez (ESP) Liberty Seguros-Würth
  • 2004 Jonker, PatrickPatrick Jonker (AUS) UniSA
  • 2003 Astarloza, MikelMikel Astarloza (ESP) AG2R Prévoyance
  • 2002 Rogers, MichaelMichael Rogers (AUS) Australian Institute of Sport
  • 2001 O'Grady, StuartStuart O'Grady (AUS) Crédit Agricole
  • 2000 Maignan, GillesGilles Maignan (FRA) AG2R Prévoyance

Meanwhile, the Tour de France is an annual bicycle race that covers approximately 3,600 kilometers (around 2,200 mi) throughout France and bordering countries. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world, the most popular of whom includes seven-time champion Lance Armstrong, and five-time champions Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.

The Tour de France is broken into day-long segments, called stages. Individual times to finish each stage are totaled to determine the overall winner at the end of the race. The rider with the lowest aggregate time at the end of each day wears a yellow jersey.

The course changes every year but the race have always finished in Paris. Since 1975, the climax of the final stage has been along the Champs-Élysées. The Tour de France is the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours".

The other two Grand Tours are the Giro d'Italia (Italy) held every May and the Vuelta a España (Spain) held every August - September.

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