Willunga Hill will be back at Tour Down Under as both men a women 2024 routes are revealed

Willunga Hill not only returns to the men’s race as the penultimate stage on a tough closing weekend, but the iconic climb of the South Australian race will also provide the finale for the Women’s race WorldTour premiere. Women will ride three stages in the week before men's race.

"The 2024 edition is a good combination of stages that worked really well in 2023 and we've got some new start and finish locations, which is exciting," Tour Down Under Race Director Stuart O’Grady told Cyclingnews. "It's good for the race, it's good for the fans."  

"Willunga Hill is the most iconic climb we've had in Tour Down Under history and that's what I'm thinking of when I'm designing a lot of this, the people that are making the effort to come to South Australia and enjoy the show," said O'Grady. "You want to deliver the best possible stage for the riders, but also for the fans and, you know, give them multiple occasions to yell at their favourite riders as they go past."

The finale will once again be on top of Mount Lofty, with three ascents in 2024 rather than 2023's five, however it will still be a tough summit finish to crown the overall victor as the day still includes more than 2,800m of climbing. "The final weekend for the men’s is probably going to be the most exciting in history," said O’Grady.

"It just instantly brings a new dynamic to the race. Instead of chasing bonus seconds, the entire peloton are pretty much on a different time straight away so it just creates a more aggressive style of racing," said O'Grady. "I think it was a really cool part of this year's event and it’s certainly something that we'll look at bringing back in the future."