"Hopefully the combination of Willunga and Mount Lofty will make for an epic finale" - Tour Down Under director Stuart O’Grady

Tour Down Under race director Stuart O’Grady is currently finalising the start list for next year’s races but the Australian is already confident that both the men’s and women’s 2024 editions will provide a new level of excitement for racing fans.

"It’s all coming together really well. We had our first edition back since COVID in 2023 but it’s coming together really well for 2024," O’Grady told GCN, with the anticipated return of the famous Wilunga Hill in the quickly approaching next edition.

"The women’s race has its own weekend finish this time, and we’ll have the best quality women’s field ever, with a finish on Willunga Hill. For the men, it’s a really well-balanced race with a mix of sprint days and probably the hardest Tour Down Under finale in history with two ascents of Willunga on the Saturday and then the Mount Lofty finish on the Sunday. It should be a really entertaining race."

"I keep saying that the Alpe d’Huez isn’t in the Tour de France every year and that it’s nice to change things around. Mount Lofty is our most iconic hill in South Australia from a tourism point of view, so it was nice to bring that into the mix, and it worked really well in 2023. We have massive crowds so hopefully with the combination of Willunga and Mount Lofty on the final weekend, it will make for an epic finale," O’Grady said.