The Down Under Classic (currently known as the Schwalbe Classic, and previously known as the People's Choice Classic and Cancer Council Helpline Classic for sponsorship reasons), is a criterium around Rymill Park in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. It precedes the Tour Down Under.

Down Under Classic
People's Choice Classic 2015
Race details
DateJanuary
RegionAdelaide, South Australia, Australia
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionOne-day
TypeCriterium
OrganiserEvents South Australia
Race directorMichael Turtur
Web sitetourdownunder.com.au Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition2006 (2006)
Editions17 (as of 2024)
First winner Robbie McEwen (AUS)
Most wins Caleb Ewan (AUS) (5 wins)
Most recent Jhonatan Narváez (ECU)

History

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Since the very first Tour Down Under in 1999, there has been a history of city-based circuit racing in Adelaide. For several years the Tour Down Under featured a race around the East End of Adelaide and through the centre of Adelaide around King William Street.

The Down Under Classic was developed to retain a cycling race in the city from 2006 due to rules preventing the number of small circuit races in a multi-day stage race.

Caleb Ewan is the most successful cyclist in the race with five wins.

Location

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The Down Under Classic has traditionally raced around Rymill Park/Murlawirrapurka in the East End, however it has been relocated over the years.

In 2014, the race was moved to a circuit around Victoria Drive and the River Torrens, north of the University of Adelaide.[1]

In 2017, it moved slightly south from Rymill Park to King Rodney Park/Ityamai-itpina before returning to its traditional configuration in 2019.

In 2020, it moved into the centre of Adelaide racing through main boulevards including Wakefield Street, Flinders Street and Victoria Square.[2]

Format

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The Down Under Classic is typically 'raced to distance'. For instance, in 2017 the race was 50.6 kilometres, or 22 laps of the King Rodney Park circuit.[3]

In 2019, the format was changed to be time-certain, meaning the race lasted for exactly one hour and one lap.[4] This reverted to the full-distance format in 2020.

Prizes

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The Down Under Classic does not count towards time or points of the Tour Down Under and, while promoted as part of the Tour Down Under 'festival' alongside the men's and women's races, is a distinctly separate race.

Instead, riders compete for prize money, with four sprint primes and the finish line prize all offering up the opportunity to obtain financial reward.

The winner of the Down Under Classic is awarded a victor's jersey, which often presents in the colours of the event sponsor. Under Cancer Council sponsorship the jersey was blue and yellow, People's Choice was green and white (until 2018) and in 2019 the jersey was red, owing to SouthAustralia.com support.

Results

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Year 1st place Team 2nd place Team 3rd place Team
2006   Robbie McEwen (AUS) Davitamon–Lotto   Daniele Colli (ITA) Liquigas   Simone Cadamuro (ITA) Team Milram
2007   Mark Renshaw (AUS) Crédit Agricole   Hilton Clarke (AUS) Navigators Insurance   Simon Clarke (AUS) SouthAustralia.com–AIS
2008   André Greipel (GER) Team High Road   Mark Renshaw (AUS) Crédit Agricole   Robbie McEwen (AUS) Silence–Lotto
2009   Robbie McEwen (AUS) Team Katusha   Wim Stroetinga (NED) Team Milram   Graeme Brown (AUS) Rabobank
2010   Greg Henderson (NZL) Team Sky   Chris Sutton (AUS) Team Sky   André Greipel (GER) Team HTC–Columbia
2011   Matthew Goss (AUS) HTC–Highroad   Mark Renshaw (AUS) HTC–Highroad   Robbie McEwen (AUS) Team RadioShack
2012   André Greipel (GER) Lotto–Belisol   Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) Team Sky   Heinrich Haussler (AUS) Garmin–Barracuda
2013   André Greipel (GER) Lotto–Belisol   Matthew Goss (AUS) Orica–GreenEDGE   Greg Henderson (NZL) Lotto–Belisol
2014   Marcel Kittel (GER) Giant–Shimano   André Greipel (GER) Lotto–Belisol   Caleb Ewan (AUS) UniSA–Australia
2015   Marcel Kittel (GER) Team Giant–Alpecin   Juan José Lobato (ESP) Movistar Team   Wouter Wippert (NED) Drapac Professional Cycling
2016   Caleb Ewan (AUS) Orica–GreenEDGE   Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA) Trek–Segafredo   Adam Blythe (GBR) Tinkoff
2017   Caleb Ewan (AUS) Orica–Scott   Sam Bennett (IRL) Bora–Hansgrohe   Peter Sagan (SVK) Bora–Hansgrohe
2018   Peter Sagan (SVK) Bora–Hansgrohe   André Greipel (GER) Lotto–Soudal   Caleb Ewan (AUS) Mitchelton–Scott
2019   Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto–Soudal   Peter Sagan (SVK) Bora–Hansgrohe   Alex Edmondson (AUS) Mitchelton–Scott
2020   Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto–Soudal   Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis   Simone Consonni (ITA) Cofidis
2023   Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto–Dstny   Jordi Meeus (BEL) Bora–Hansgrohe   Kaden Groves (AUS) Alpecin–Deceuninck
2024   Jhonatan Narváez (ECU) Ineos Grenadiers   Natnael Tesfatsion (ERI) Lidl–Trek   Isaac del Toro (MEX) UAE Team Emirates

References

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  1. ^ "People's Choice Classic". People's Choice Classic. Tour Down Under. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Schwalbe Classic". Tour Down Under. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  3. ^ "2017 People's Choice Classic map". Tour Down Under. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Down Under Classic". Tour Down Under. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
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