Courses revealed for the 2023 Women’s Tour Down Under
Courses revealed for the 2023 Women's Tour Down Under
Organisers of the women’s Santos Tour Down Under have unveiled the courses for the race’s 2023 edition – the event’s first as a top-tier WorldTour event.
After a curtain-raiser criterium which doesn’t contribute to the tour’s GC, the women’s Tour Down Under proper takes place over just three road stages. The last time the event was held at international level, in 2020, the race was four stages long.
Stage 1 of the 2023 edition takes the riders 110 km from Glenelg to Aldinga in what will be a day for the sprinters.
Stage 2 spans 90 km from Birdwood to Uraidla and according to race organisers, is “set to favour puncheur cyclists”. There’s 1,630 metres of climbing on the menu including a climb of roughly 7 km to Mount Lofty in the Adelaide Hills. That climb peaks around 10 km from the finish, after which there’s a descent and a few lumps and bumps, before a mostly flat finish in Uraidla.
The final stage starts in the Adelaide CBD, ends in Campbelltown and “will be one for the climbers”. In 93.2 km the riders will climb 1,770 metres, including one of Adelaide’s most iconic ascents: Corkscrew Road.
The closing kilometres mirror a popular finale used often in the men’s Tour Down Under: a fast descent down Gorge Road, up the Corkscrew Road climb (roughly 2 km at 9%), then down to the finish in Campbelltown.
The prologue time trial of the men’s Tour Down Under begins in Adelaide a few hours after the final stage of the women’s race.
2023 Tour Down Under schedule
Saturday January 14 – Schwalbe Classic (men and women, Adelaide CBD)
Sunday January 15 – Women’s Stage 1 (Glenelg to Aldinga)
Monday January 16 – Women’s Stage 2 (Birdwood to Uraidla)
Tuesday January 17 – Women’s Stage 3 (Adelaide CBD to Campbelltown) & Men’s prologue (Adelaide)
Wednesday January 18 – Men’s Stage 1 (Tanunda to Tanunda)
Thursday January 19 – Men’s Stage 2 (Brighton to Victor Harbor)
Friday January 20 – Men’s Stage 3 (Norwood to Campbelltown)
Saturday January 21 – Men’s Stage 4 (Port Willunga to Willunga Township)
Sunday January 22 – Men’s Stage 5 (Unley to Mount Lofty)