Down Under Classic

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 sitewww.tourdownunder.com.au/peoples-choice-classic.htm
History
First edition2006 (2006)
Editions16 (as of 2023)
First winner Robbie McEwen (AUS)
Most wins Caleb Ewan (AUS) (5 wins)
Most recent Caleb Ewan (AUS)

History

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

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

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

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
Year 1st placeTeam 2nd placeTeam 3rd placeTeam
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[5] Caleb Ewan (AUS)Lotto–Dstny Jordi Meeus (BEL)Bora–Hansgrohe Kaden Groves (AUS)Alpecin–Deceuninck

References
  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. Tour Down Under. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  3. "2017 People's Choice Classic map". Tour Down Under. Tour Down Under. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. "Down Under Classic". Tour Down Under. Tour Down Under. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  5. Ostanek, Daniel (14 January 2023). "Caleb Ewan sprints to win at men's Schwalbe Classic Tour Down Under opener". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
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