Santos Festival Of Cycling An Opportunity For Multiple Disciplines

The advent of AusCycling and the amalgamation of the three major cycling disciplines (BMX, MTB and Road/Track) combined with the decision for the Santos Tour Down Under to be a National Road Series race rather than a WorldTour race in 2021 has delivered us a silver lining – the Santos Festival of Cycling! We’re excited about the six-day program taking in the best of cycling in Adelaide, across a range of great venues – some you might not have even known existed!

Adelaide Track League, Tuesday January 19, 5:30pm, Adelaide Superdrome

Founded in 2020, Adelaide Track League is track racing at the Adelaide Superdrome the way it should be! A great program of fan-favourite track races, food trucks, great local beers and wines, a DJ to keep the vibes high, and all just 10km from the Adelaide CBD. Tickets are $10 and attendance is strictly capped, so if you already know you want to get out and kick start your SFOC-week in style, grab yours today by clicking here!

National Road Series, Thursday January 21 – Sunday January 24

The pinnacle of domestic racing in Australia, the NRS is where up-and-coming riders go to test their mettle against the best in the country and see if they’ve got what it takes to head to the big-leagues – the UCI WorldTour. This 4-stage NRS race at the SFOC is a great opportunity for not just the future stars on the road, but a chance for you to catch the current stars too – many of the Aussie WorldTour pros will be lining up at this road race to duke it out on home turf with the next generation. Full details of the NRS racing including course maps are available here!

MAKER / ROLLER FRENZY XIII, Thursday January 21, 88 O’Connell St North Adelaide, 2pm-9pm

The event so good, it’s gotta be in all caps. MAKER is an exhibition of Aussie cycling brands that’s been running in some way, shape or form for 6 years now. From humble beginnings in Ebenezer Place in the CBD’s East, MAKER has showcased Australia’s favourite bike brands, framebuilders, bag makers, kit brands, and other cycling-related brands. With interstate travel limited in this edition, the focus will be on Adelaide-based cycling brands and businesses, with a full list of stallholders to be released in the coming days. Make sure you follow MAKER on Facebook and hit “Going” on the FB Event here to keep up with all the news!

ROLLER FRENZY is now in its 13^th year, which means this year it will be run upside down!* This aptly-named event is truly one for all, with a up to 4 riders taking to the stage at any one time to duke it out over 250 virtual metres on the rollers. With a round of qualifying to set handicaps for the finals, this is always an electrifying one to watch as anyone could win! Previous years have seen pros from the Tour Down Under sneak out of the Hilton to take part, so who know who we’ll get this year – perhaps former Rollapalooza (a similar event run in London) champion Matt Crampton will make an appearance? Make sure you've liked the PACC Facebook page to keep up to date with more info!

*This event will not be run upside down, just regular right-ways up.

AMBC XC Short Track, Friday January 22, Eagle On The Hill, 5pm

The first of the off-road events of the SFOC goes to the Adelaide Mountain Bike Club, with a cracking race up at Eagle On The Hill, just up the freeway from the city! Short Track racing is a great variant of traditional XC racing, and you might have seen it used before XC World Cups in recent years to decide starting order. This is short, aggressive XC racing, with laps not as long as a traditional XC race and races tending shorter as well. This makes for explosive racing and will make for great watching! Especially handy for those who ride out to catch the NRS racing in the hills on this day, you can come back through Stirling and make a little stop halfway down the freeway on your way back into town. More details to come – click here to keep up with AMBC’s announcements!

Summer Cross (CX), Saturday January 23, Park 27b (Mary Lee Park), 4pm

The second of the off-road events in the program is a special one for Port Adelaide Cycling Club, with the National Cyclocross scene one of the hardest hit of the cycling disciplines in 2020. Summer ‘Cross is a chance for the national spotlight to be shone on PACC’s great twilight ‘cross racing which has been going for several years now. In an all-new venue at Mary Lee Park, this is going to be a great evening of CX racing for the whole family, and if you’ve never tried CX before, there’s never been a better time to start! Taking place after the Willunga Stage, make sure you pace yourself throughout the day so you don’t miss out on the opportunity to grab a Pirate Life beer as the sun goes down and the state’s best cyclocrossers rip around the parklands. Hit “Going” to stay up to date with updates from PACC about this one!

Summer Showdown (BMX), Sunday January 24, The Cove BMX Club, racing from 10:30am

The final peripheral event of the SFOC before the final day’s NRS crit at Pakapakanthi, The Cove are hosting a massive day of BMX racing at their home turf at Hallett Cove. One of SA’s strongest BMX clubs, The Cove have a jam-packed program that’ll make for great watching no matter how much you know about BMX. Actually, especially if you don’t know much about BMX make sure you get out to this one to see what all the fuss is about! BMX is one of the most popular forms of bike racing in SA and once you get out there, it’s easy to see why. Keep up to date with all the event info over at The Cove BMX Club Facebook page!

More info to come!

We know it’s a weird year to be thinking about bike racing, but we’re proud of what our extended cycling community has been able to bring together to celebrate the bikes we all love so much! It’s exciting to have the opportunity to showcase our state’s thriving cycling clubs and communities on the national stage like this, so make sure you try something new, get out to support your club and check out someone else’s, and meet some new people from other cycling disciplines! We’ll be doing full write-ups of each event as we get closer to the Festival, so make sure you stay updated by keeping an eye on the AusCycling SA Facebook Page and website over the coming weeks!