The Crikey Cadel Crocodile ha made a few Tour Down Under appearances (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Vineyards are a common vista at the TDU (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
With no team buses, riders get ready for the stages in team vans (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Palms trees and vineyards. Must be Australia (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A row of palms trees (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Marcel Kittel has two criterium wins in Adelaide but is yet to win a stage (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Gerrans at the 2014 TDU team presentation (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom-Jelte Slagter hasn't been back to the race since his 2013 victory (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Bernard Hinault has also been a TDU 'legend' (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jens Voigt in classic 'attack mode' (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Damien Howson and Philippe Gilbert shared the aggressive jersey back in 2012 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Hold on! Takashi Miyazawa struggles to contain the joey (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Julian Kern looking more like a mummy than a cyclist (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Andy Schleck rode the TDU during his career (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A past and future star of the Australian spriting, Caleb Ewan and Robbie McEwan (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
One of the benefits of riding in the grupetto at the TDU (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
It's Greg LeMond to hold a joey (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Cadel Evans had a custom painted bike for his final Tour Down Under appearance (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
2015 Australian national champion Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Marcel Kittel has won the last two criteriums that open the Tour Down Under (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lawson Craddock gets a selfie with a koala in the race village (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Cadel Evans in the ochre race leaders jersey (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A crash on the Adelaide circuit which finishes off the Tour Down Under (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Gerrans has won the race three times, the last time being 2014 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Easy as it looks, Andre Greipel is the alltime stage winner at the TDU (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Willunga Hill is a favourite for the riders and fans alike (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The race winning move by Simon Gerrans in 2014 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Sir Chris Hoy has been one of the TDU 'legends' (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Just another ride by the beach (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jordan Kerby doing what the UniSA team do best, attacking (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Gerrans is usually all smiles at the TDU (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Cadel Evans shakes the hand of then PM Kevin Rudd in 2010 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lance Armstrong was always a fan favourite (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Quick Step celebrate Allan Davis' win in 2009 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lance Armstrong rode with Astana when he made his TDU debut (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The TDU is a scenic race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Then PM Kevin Rudd with Andre Greipel in 2008 when the German won the race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Allan Peiper with the Colombia Highroad team (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The TDU is known as being a little less serious than the big European races (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Andre Greipel has been a regular winner at the TDU since his first appearance (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A time before smartphone (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alberto Contador is another former TDU stage winner (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Orica-GreenEdge sports director Matt White celebrates a stage win (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Former TDU winner Stuart O'Grady with his family (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Caisse d'Epargne, and now Movistar, have enjoyed lots of success down udner (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
HTC celebrate Andre Greipel's overall win in 2010 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alejando Valverde and Simon Gerrans' rivalry at its peak in 2012 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Martin Kolher may be Swiss but he's a fan of Australia as his boomerang tattoo suggests (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Oscar Freire is also a former stage winner at the race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Eddy Merckx was the TDU 'legend' in 2012 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Manuel Quinziato and Alessandro Ballan not looking too pleased with their joey (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
You can count on Will Clarkebeing aggressive at the TDU (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lance Armstrong on the stage for the final time at the TDU showing his RM Williams to the crowd (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Travis Meyer launching an attack (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Cameron Meyer was the 2011 TDU champion (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
There was always lots of media attention for Lance Armstrong when he rode the TDU (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Michael Matthews first WorldTour was at the TDU in 2011 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The TDU race director has been Mike Turtursince day one (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mark Cavendish doesn't have great memories of the TDU (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Robbie McEwan celebrates a TDU stage win as national champion (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 2015 WorldTour only concluded last Sunday with Il Lombardi but its already just 100 days until the first race of the 2016 calendar gets underway in Adelaide, Australia with the Tour Down Under.
The Australian race has been the first on the WorldTour calendar since it joined the top ranks of the sport in 2008. Australian riders have been the outright best performers in the 17 editions of the race so far, winning the overall on ten occasions. While no rider has managed to defend their title yet, Simon Gerrans has three wins to his name while Andre Greipel is the most successful non-Australian with two overall victories.
Rohan Dennis (BMC) will be looking to end that trend next January having won the 2015 edition of the race.
The 2016 edition of the race features several regular finishes in Stirling, Victor Harbour and Willunga Hill while the iconic Adelaide climb, Norton Summit, will make its debut on stage 4. Once again there will be an Adelaide city criterium, known as the Down Under Classic, kick off proceedings before the race gets underway for real with stage 1 taking the riders from Prospect to Lyndoch in 130.8 kilometres with a mix of finishes to follow in order to entice the peloton down under.
We've put together a gallery of some of the best photographs from the Tour Down Under for you to enjoy and start the countdown to the 2016 WorldTour.
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