Santos Women's Tour route announced

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The route for the four-day Santos Women's Tour has been announced and will feature two open road stages and two criteriums in Adelaide. Organisers also confirmed that 10 international teams will race, one of which will be the Ale Cipollini team, according to Australian newspaper, The Advertiser

Next year's race will begin with a 106.5km ride from the town of Hahndorf in the Adelaide hills to Meadows. After leaving Hahndorf, the riders will get a first look at the finish line as they head through Meadows before carrying on towards Mount Compass. They won't tackle the climb as they briefly turn west through Yundi and down the Nangkita Road before heading north again. There will be one Queen of the Mountain on Paris Creek Road, which starts 16km before the finish and peaks with less than 10km to go. The finish will be fast and furious with a lengthy run down into Meadows before a small rise in the final few hundred metres.

Stage 2 will be an evening affair around Ityamai-Itpina (Park 15). The riders will complete 14 laps of the 2.3km circuit, for a 32.2km stage. There are a few rises and falls on the course, but it is likely to end in a bunch sprint.

The open road beckons once again for the third stage with a 92.4km ride from Tanuda to Lyndoch. The riders will head away from their final destination with a twisting and undulating ride towards Greenock and back to where they started in Tanuda. A short hop from Tanuda, the riders will find themselves in Lyndoch to begin two laps of a 26km circuit which includes a ride up the Whispering Wall.

From the top of the second ascent up the Whispering Wall, also known as the Barossa Reservoir dam, there will be another uncategorised climb before a downhill run to the line.

Closing out the race will be another criterium through Victoria Park. Riders will race around the sweeping 1.2km course for an hour, followed by two further laps.

The Women's Tour Down Under will run from January 14 to 17, ending as the men's WorldTour race sets off. The race gained UCI status for the 2016 season after initially beginning as part of the Subaru National Cup in 2015, and was developed from the multi-day event, the Santos Women's Cup. It will once again carry points for the UCI's world rankings and Oceania Tour. Katrin Garfoot won the 2016 Santos Women's Tour, beating Shelley Olds to the title.