Tour Down Under

Ras seiclo yn Adelaide a'r ardal cyfagos yn Ne Awstralia yw'r Tour Down Under. Mae'r ras yn cychwyn ar y trydydd dydd Mawrth ym mhob mis Ionawr. Mae'n denu reidwyr o hyd a lled Awstralia a thu hwnt. Yn 2005, cafodd y Tour Down Under ei redeg gan yr Union Cycliste Internationale odan categori 2.HC, sef y categori uchaf o ras tu allan i Ewrop, a'r mwyaf. Yn 2008, daeth y Tour Down Under yn ras gyntaf UCI ProTour i gael ei gynnal tu allan i Ewrop, a'r flwyddyn ganlynol daeth yn ras gyntaf calendr newydd UCI World Ranking.

Hanes
Enillwyr
BlwyddynEnillyddCenedlTîm1999  Stuart O'Grady    Crédit Agricole2000  Gilles Maignan    AG2R Prévoyance2001  Stuart O'Grady    Crédit Agricole2002  Michael Rogers    Australian Institute of Sport2003  Mikel Astarloza    AG2R Prévoyance2004  Patrick Jonker    UniSA2005  Luis León Sánchez    Liberty Seguros-Würth2006  Simon Gerrans    AG2R Prévoyance2007  Martin Elmiger    AG2R Prévoyance2008  André Greipel    Team High Road2009  Allan Davis    Quick Step2010  André Greipel    Team HTC-Columbia2011  Cameron Meyer    Garmin-Cervélo2012  Simon Gerrans    GreenEDGE
Tour directors
1999 to present: Mike Turtur.

Course
The Tour generally features stages surrounding Adelaide, which varies from flat to moderately undulating.  There are no large mountains in the area, giving specialist climbers few opportunities to show their particular skills.  One notable climb featured involves two laps of Willunga Hill, a 3 km climb at an average gradient of 7.6%.  However, it is typical for most tour stages to finish as a bunch sprint.   The Tour does not include a time trial, as is typical in early season races and to avoid imposing extra shipping costs on the international teams. 

The conditions in South Australia in late January are often very hot.

 Jerseys 
Leaders of competitions within the race wear a distinctive jersey.

 Current jerseys 
The Ochre jersey is awarded to the rider with the fastest cumulative time at the end of each stage and to the winner at the end. Ochre is associated with Australia and the Tour Down Under is unique in having it for the leader's jersey.
The Sprint jersey is awarded to the rider with most points and time bonuses awarded to the first three riders across the line at points along the route and at the finish.
The King of the Mountain jersey is awarded to the rider with most points awarded to the first five riders over climbs.
The Young rider’s jersey is awarded to the leading rider under 23 at the end of each stage.
The Most aggressive rider’s jersey is worn by the rider who instigated most attacks, breakaways or helped team-mates to best advantage during the stage.
The Winning team jersey goes to the team with the lowest cumulative time by its four best riders on each of the six stages.

Be Active Tour
dde|250px|bawd|Participants in the 2005 Be Active Tour at Angaston
The Tour Down Under has a companion event, the Be Active Tour. This is one of Australia's fastest growing recreational events, held over the route the professionals race later in the day. The inaugural event in 2003 was known as the Breakaway Tour and attracted more than 600 riders. In 2004 riders increased to 1,400 and the event was known on as the Be Active Tour. The 2005 tour saw more than 1,900 riders leave Salisbury, Williamstown and Angaston in 30 degrees to tackle the hills and roads of stage 2.  In 2006, riders rode 154 km from Strathalbyn to Yankalilla in the low 40s. The heat took its toll on riders and a heat policy now exists.

In 2007 the name changed again to Mutual Community Challenge Tour and it was joined by the Mutual Community Fun Tour and Powerade mini-tour for children. The new events are to increase the popularity of the event and attract people who do not ride regularly. In 2010 there were over 8,000 participants.

 Records 
Stuart O'Grady (Australia, 1999 and 2001) and André Greipel (Germany, 2008 and 2010) are the only riders to have won the Tour Down Under twice.

Cyfres merched
There used to be a women's criterium series of three street circuits. This was sponsored by UniSA and was generally held at the same place as the men's race, or at the end of the men's race.Stages and Results | Tour Down Under . Retrieved 2007-01-16.

For the 2011 edition there will be a two-race series called the Rendition Homes Santos Women’s Cup.Cyclingnews.com.au. Retrieved 2010-10-10.

Traddodiadau
One tradition of the Tour Down Under is that the fans choose an unknown rider and treat him the way they would a star, by mobbing him at hotels and painting his name on the road. The rider must be a non-english speaking domestique who most likely will not get a start at a major race and will simply act as a bottle carrier.Port Adelaide CC Forum "Operation: Support Obscure TDU Pro" . Retrieved 2010-03-02. For 2010 that rider was Arthur Vichot of Francaise Des Jeux. For 2011, the rider is Angel Madrazo of Team Movistar.

Cyfeiriadau

Dolenni allanol
Tour Down Under


Categori:UCI ProTour
Categori:Chwaraeon yn Awstralia
Categori:Sefydliadau 1999