With the UCI set to make big reforms to cycling in 2017, there is much discussion over the location of races on the WorldTour calendar. The Tour Down Under has been suggested a move to February to make it closer with the other top tier events, but the riders and organisers are keen to see if remain in its January slot.

“At the end of the day, it’s a UCI decision as to what they do with the reform in 2017,” said TDU race director Mike Turtur. “We would hope that after 17 editions of this race that we’d like to think that we have enough coins in the bank to suggest that we’re doing the right thing.”

“I think the UCI needs to look at our race in January like the Tour de France is in July,” he continued. “It’s critically important that we stage this race during the holiday period, because it’s a tourism event as well as a bike race. It would be like asking the Tour de France to move from July to another month. They would say absolutely not. The reason this race exists is because of tourism.”

Turtur’s event is the culmination of the Australian summer and many fans turn out in Adelaide to watch the six stages and the People’s Choice Classic go by each year. The queen stage to Willunga hill was so busy with people that stage winner Richie Porte said it reminded him of a climb from the Tour de France. 

The race is helped by the fact that many big riders like to ride the vent, such as Porte, Cadel Evans, Mark Renshaw and Marcel Kittel. It takes place in warm weather, which makes it attractive to Europeans, has rolling terrain and short, fast stages and it is always a competitive event, making it a good place to start the season and some hard miles can be done here, plus there is the ability to train before and after the race as there are excellent facilities in Adelaide and the roads are good.

“The Tour Down Under is a different race than it was 15 years ago. There are no preparation races anymore. This is as good as any race in the world right now. It’s January, but it’s very, very serious racing,” said Orica-GreenEdge sport director Matt White. “The reason it works so well in January is because it’s school holidays. If you moved it to February, it might work well on the calendar, but for the fans and the tourism, which is the backbone of this race, January is a great place for this race.”