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One of the biggest names in road cycling has lured Tour Down Under boss Stuart O’Grady to help celebrate the event’s 25th birthday.
The Tour’s race director, who won the inaugural edition in 1999, said at Monday’s route unveiling in Adelaide that he had targeted a top rider to headline the landmark race from January 18-26.
The Santos Women’s Tour will take place from January 17-19, with both competitions live and free to air on the Seven Network and 7 plus.
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The South Australian government, which owns the event, is trying to lure one of Tadej Pogakar (Slovenia), Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark), Remko Evenepoel (Belgium), Primo Roglic (Slovenia), Watt van Aert (Belgium) or Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands).
This group dominates road cycling – Pogacar is the favorite for the Tour de France from June 29 ahead of Vingegaard, the two-time defending champion, and Roglic is also a major contender.
Evenepoel won the world road championship in Wollongong two years ago, while van Aert and van der Poel are also all-time greats in one-day classics.
O’Grady leaves for Europe on Tuesday morning and when asked about his main goal there, he said: “signing with one of the biggest names in cycling.
“Obviously we’re working on that big name that’s been in the works for a while.
“Once we get through the Tour de France and the road race at the Paris Olympics is over, we should have an answer pretty quickly after that.
“So we hope they do really well.”
The Adelaide Tour has a history of attracting big international names.
His biggest coup – and ultimately most controversial – lured Lance Armstrong to launch his 2009 comeback in Adelaide.
The American retired again after racing the 2011 edition.
A few days before the start of the 2013 Tour Down Under, Armstrong admitted to Oprah Winfrey in a televised interview that he had been doping.
The race also attracted Peter Sagan, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas among the top overseas riders.
German Eric Zabel, then one of the best sprinters in the world, won two stages in the first race in 1999.
The men’s race next January will return to its roots, using the same urban circuits that recorded the course in 1999.
“I really couldn’t see it any other way than to have a big celebration, right in the heart of our beautiful city,” O’Grady said of the final stage.
“Paris has the Champs Elysées, Adelaide has the King William (St) – same same.”
The men’s race will also feature a new final climb on Pound Rd in the Adelaide Hills, which O’Grady rates as as difficult as the iconic Willunga Hill climb south of the city.
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