Santos Tour Down Under returns in 2025 and celebrates 25 years!

The Santos Tour Down Under is back in 2025 with the City of Onkaparinga set to host 3 stages of the 25th anniversary year for the event and for council's involvement in the iconic event! Since its inception in 1999, the City of Onkaparinga has partnered with the Tour Down Under event every year and we are excited to being hosting it once again.

The three stages include:

  • women’s stage one finish at Aldinga on Friday 17 January
  • women’s stage two finish at Willunga Hill on Saturday 18 January
  • men’s stage five start and finish from McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill on Saturday 25 January.

These stages will showcase a great deal of our regions internationally recognised assets including the stunning coastline and McLaren Vale wine region, as well as our historic townships and incredible local businesses!

The Santos Tour Down Under is the biggest cycling race in the southern hemisphere, and the 10-day event brings both male and female Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) WorldTour professional cycling teams to race on the streets of Adelaide and regional South Australia each January. 

For more information on the 2025 Santos Tour Down Under visit the event website.

Detailed maps of the City of Onkaparinga race routes and pass throughs are available at the following links:

Ziptrak Women's Stage 1: Brighton to Aldinga
Health Partners Women's Stage 2: Unley to Willunga Hill
Hahn Men's Stage 4: Glenelg to Victor Harbour
THINK! Road Safety Men's Stage 5: McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill

Road closures and parking restrictions

The following road closures will be in place in Aldinga Beach on Friday 17 January 2025 for the Ziptrak® Women’s Stage 1 finish:

From 6am-7pm:

  • Esplanade from Gordon Street to Hamilton Road
  • Esplanade from Hamilton Road to Quinliven Road (please note this is a soft closure with resident access permitted outside of SAPOL closure)
  • Hume Street from Esplanade to A point approximately 50m south east of Esplanade
  • Butterworth Street from Esplanade to Atkinson Crescent
  • Croser Avenue from Butterworth Road to Blacker Road


The following road closures will be in place in WiIlunga on Saturday 18 and Saturday 25 January 2025 for the Health Partners Women's Stage 2 finish and 
THINK! Road Safety Men's Stage 5 finish:

  • High Street from St Andrews Terrace to St Matthews Street (8:30am-2pm) *NEW NOTIFICATION*
  • Old Willunga Hill Road from St Matthews Street to Blackbilly Road (6am-7pm)
  • Brookman Road from Old Willunga Hill Road to Range Road (6am-7pm)

The following road closures will be in place in McLaren Vale on Saturday 25 January 2025 for the THINK! Road Safety Men's Stage 5 start:

From 6am-2:30pm:

  • Main Road from Tatachilla Road to Valley View Drive
  • Kalamata Court from Main Road to its entirety
  • Kalyra Access Road (private road) from Main Road to its entirety
  • Field Street from Main Road to Nicole Street
  • Aldersey Street from Main Road to Tatachilla Road

South Australian Police will implement rolling road closures throughout the City of Onkaparinga on Friday 17,Saturday 18, Friday 24 and Saturday 25 January 2025 in accordance with the race. This will last for approximately 30 minutes each time the cyclist’s pass. Changes can be made to all traffic management plans under South Australia Police jurisdiction in accordance with public safety. We thank you for your patience and cooperation during this time. 

Best parking locations: 

In addition to general street parking in McLaren Vale and Willunga, there will be parking available in the following locations:

  • Alma Hotel car park on Hill Street - this is free, but quite limited
  • Willunga Recreation Grounds. This parking will open at 9am and will incur a $5 entry fee with proceeds going back to the community-owned Willunga Recreation Park

    PLEASE NOTE: There will be no parking on High Street (both sides) from St Andrews Terrace to St Matthews Street (6am-4pm)


Best Dressed Town Competition

The townships of McLaren Vale and Willunga are participating in the Santos Best Dressed Town CompetitionWe encourage you to visit these townships and see their efforts to best represent their town and businesses.

In this special anniversary year, the Santos Tour Down Under has a special category called the “Best of the Best Dressed”, in which the public can vote for the best overall winner in the past 24 years. Aldinga, McLaren Vale and Willunga have each been overall winners over the years, so we invite you to relive the excitement by voting for your favourite Best Dressed Town from the past 24 years. These towns have showcased unforgettable creativity, spirit and flair and have therefore represented our region spectacularly. Vote for the "Best of the Best Dressed Town".

Activations:
The McLaren Vale Business and Tourism Association have—in partnership with the City of Onkaparinga and the McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association—arranged for the township logo to be painted in the field of Leconfield winery. This will be shown on broadcast, aired nationally and internationally. This is a creative initiative to further promote the beautiful McLaren Vale wine region.

Last, but not least, the Willunga Business and Tourism Association will be putting on an activation in Town Square for locals and visitors alike on both Saturday 17 and Saturday 25 January in celebration of the respective race days. We encourage you to visit this activation and take in the festive vibes while enjoying a coffee or bite to eat.

Live Sites:
In celebration of the 25th anniversary, Tour Down Under have organised Live Sites, which includes a large screen showing live coverage of the race and live music as well. There will be 3 Live Sites in the City of Onkaparinga. Details for each are listed below and are all open to the general public:

Friday 17 January
Market Square, Old Noarlunga

Saturday 18 January
Weymouth Oval, Coromandel Community Centre

Saturday 25 January
Willunga Town Square activation

RADL GRVL

We are pleased to be welcoming RADL GRVL back to our region in 2025 for the second year as part of the Santos Tour Down Under associated event program.

RADL GRVL is a gravel cycling event for professional, elite, and amateur cyclists alike. The 2024 pilot event sold out in weeks and in 2025 a full scale event will be introduced. Participants will traverse 120km of remote gravel and paved roads through the vineyards and hills of McLaren Vale. For more details, visit the event website: RADL GRVL

 

 

When

  • Friday, 17 January 2025 | 10:00 AM - Saturday, 25 January 2025 | 02:00 PM

Location

McLaren Vale. Willunga, Aldinga Beach, Port Willunga, Willunga Hill, Old Noarlunga, Lonsdale, Coromandel Valley, Kangarilla, McLaren Flat, Sellicks Beach, Sellicks Hill

McLaren Vale, Willunga and Snapper Point - Aldinga, McLaren Vale