View source for Down Under Classic

{{short description|Australian one-day road cycling criterium race}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox cycling race
| name          = Down Under Classic
| current_event = 
| image         = People's Choice Classic 2015.jpg
| image_caption = People's Choice Classic 2015
| date          = January
| region        = [[Adelaide]], [[South Australia]], Australia
| discipline    = [[Road bicycle racing|Road]]
| competition   = [[One-day race|One-day]]
| type          = [[Criterium]]
| organiser     = [[South Australian Tourism Commission|Events South Australia]]
| director      = [[Michael Turtur]]
| first         = {{start date|2006}}
| number        = 17 (as of 2024)
| last          = 
| firstwinner   = {{flagathlete|[[Robbie McEwen]]|AUS}}
| mostwins      =  {{nowrap|{{flagathlete|[[Caleb Ewan]]|AUS}} ''(5 wins)''}}
| mostrecent    = {{flagathlete|[[Jhonatan Narváez]]|ECU}}
}}
The '''Down Under Classic''' (currently known as the Villawood Men's Classic, and previously known as the Schwalbe Classic, 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]].

==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, Adelaide|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|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]].<ref>{{cite web |title=People's Choice Classic |url=http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/peoples-choice-classic.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125190023/http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/peoples-choice-classic.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 January 2014 |website=People's Choice Classic |publisher=Tour Down Under |access-date=21 April 2019}}</ref>

In 2017, it moved slightly south from Rymill Park to [[Adelaide Park Lands|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Schwalbe Classic |url=https://tourdownunder.com.au/race/mens/stages/classic |website=Tour Down Under |access-date=2 February 2020}}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{cite web |title=2017 People's Choice Classic map |url=http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/~/media/tdu/files/event%20files/stages/maps/2017%20event/powerade%20and%20hansgrohe/tdu_2017_classic%20map_lr_final.ashx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102063027/http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/~/media/tdu/files/event%20files/stages/maps/2017%20event/powerade%20and%20hansgrohe/tdu_2017_classic%20map_lr_final.ashx |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 January 2017 |website=Tour Down Under |access-date=21 April 2019}}</ref>

In 2019, the format was changed to be time-certain, meaning the race lasted for exactly one hour and one lap.<ref>{{cite web |title=Down Under Classic |url=https://tourdownunder.com.au/race/mens/stages/classic |website=Tour Down Under |access-date=21 April 2019}}</ref> 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 Tour Down Under|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==
{|class=wikitable
|-
!Year
!1st place!!Team
!2nd place!!Team
!3rd place!!Team
|-
|2006
|{{flagathlete|[[Robbie McEwen]]|AUS}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|LTB|2006}}}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Daniele Colli]]|ITA}}|| {{UCI team code|CAN|2007}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Simone Cadamuro]]|ITA}} || {{UCI team code|MRM|2006}}
|-
|2007
|{{flagathlete|[[Mark Renshaw]]|AUS}} || {{UCI team code|C.A|2007}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Hilton Clarke]]|AUS}}|| {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|NIC|2007}}}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Simon Clarke (cyclist)|Simon Clarke]]|AUS}} || [[SouthAustralia.com–AIS]]
|-
|2008
|{{flagathlete|[[André Greipel]]|GER}} || {{UCI team code|THR|2008a}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Mark Renshaw]]|AUS}}|| {{UCI team code|C.A|2008}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Robbie McEwen]]|AUS}} || {{UCI team code|LTB|2008}}
|-
|2009
|{{flagathlete|[[Robbie McEwen]]|AUS}} || {{UCI team code|KAT|2009}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Wim Stroetinga]]|NED}}|| {{UCI team code|MRM|2009}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Graeme Brown]]|AUS}} || {{UCI team code|RAB|2009}}
|-
|2010
|{{nowrap|{{flagathlete|[[Greg Henderson]]|NZL}}}} || {{UCI team code|SKY|2010}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Christopher Sutton (cyclist)|Chris Sutton]]|AUS}}|| {{UCI team code|SKY|2010}} ||{{flagathlete|[[André Greipel]]|GER}} || {{UCI team code|THR|2010}}
|-
|2011
|{{flagathlete|[[Matthew Goss]]|AUS}} || {{UCI team code|THR|2011}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Mark Renshaw]]|AUS}}|| {{UCI team code|THR|2011}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Robbie McEwen]]|AUS}} || {{UCI team code|RSH|2011}}
|-
|2012
|{{flagathlete|[[André Greipel]]|GER}} || {{UCI team code|LTB|2012}} ||{{nowrap|{{flagathlete|[[Edvald Boasson Hagen]]|NOR}}}}|| {{UCI team code|SKY|2012}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Heinrich Haussler]]|AUS}} || {{UCI team code|GRS|2012a}}
|-
|2013
|{{flagathlete|[[André Greipel]]|GER}} || {{UCI team code|LTB|2013}} ||{{flagathlete|[[Matthew Goss]]|AUS}}|| {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|OBE|2013}}}} ||{{nowrap|{{flagathlete|[[Greg Henderson]]|NZL}}}} || {{UCI team code|LTB|2013}}
|-
|2014 || {{flagathlete|[[Marcel Kittel]]|GER}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|GIA|2014}}}} || {{flagathlete|[[André Greipel]]|GER}} || {{UCI team code|LTB|2014}} || {{flagathlete|[[Caleb Ewan]]|AUS}} || [[UniSA–Australia]]
|-
|2015 || {{flagathlete|[[Marcel Kittel]]|GER}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|GIA|2015}}}} || {{flagathlete|[[Juan José Lobato]]|ESP}} || {{UCI team code|MOV|2015}} || {{flagathlete|[[Wouter Wippert]]|NED}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|DPC|2015}}}}
|-
|2016 || {{flagathlete|[[Caleb Ewan]]|AUS}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|OBE|2016a}}}} || {{flagathlete|[[Giacomo Nizzolo]]|ITA}} || {{UCI team code|TFR|2016}} || {{flagathlete|[[Adam Blythe]]|GBR}} || {{UCI team code|TTS|2016}}
|-
|2017 || {{flagathlete|[[Caleb Ewan]]|AUS}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|OBE|2017}}}} || {{flagathlete|[[Sam Bennett (cyclist)|Sam Bennett]]|IRL}} || {{UCI team code|APP|2017}} || {{flagathlete|[[Peter Sagan]]|SVK}} || {{UCI team code|APP|2017}}
|-
|2018 || {{flagathlete|[[Peter Sagan]]|SVK}} || {{UCI team code|APP|2018}} || {{flagathlete|[[André Greipel]]|GER}} || {{UCI team code|LTB|2018}} || {{flagathlete|[[Caleb Ewan]]|AUS}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|OBE|2018}}}}
|-
|2019 || {{flagathlete|[[Caleb Ewan]]|AUS}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|LTB|2019}}}} || {{flagathlete|[[Peter Sagan]]|SVK}} || {{UCI team code|APP|2019}} || {{nowrap|{{flagathlete|[[Alex Edmondson]]|AUS}}}} || {{UCI team code|OBE|2019}}
|-
|2020 || {{flagathlete|[[Caleb Ewan]]|AUS}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|LTS|2020}}}} || {{flagathlete|[[Elia Viviani]]|ITA}} || {{UCI team code|COF|2020}} || {{nowrap|{{flagathlete|[[Simone Consonni]]|ITA}}}} || {{UCI team code|COF|2020}}
|-
|2023 || {{flagathlete|[[Caleb Ewan]]|AUS}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|LTS|2023}}}} || {{flagathlete|[[Jordi Meeus]]|BEL}} || {{UCI team code|BOH|2023}} || {{nowrap|{{flagathlete|[[Kaden Groves]]|AUS}}}} || {{UCI team code|AFC|2023}}
|-
|2024 || {{flagathlete|[[Jhonatan Narváez]]|ECU}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|IGD|2024}}}} || {{flagathlete|[[Natnael Tesfatsion]]|ERI}} || {{UCI team code|TFS|2024}} || {{nowrap|{{flagathlete|[[Isaac del Toro]]|MEX}}}} || {{UCI team code|UAD|2024}}
|-
|2025 || {{flagathlete|[[Sam Welsford]]|AUS}} || {{nowrap|{{UCI team code|RBH|2025}}}} || {{flagathlete|[[Henri Uhlig]]|GER}} || {{UCI team code|ADC|2025}} || {{nowrap|{{flagathlete|[[Matthew Brennan (cyclist)|Matthew Brennan]]|GBR}}}} || {{UCI team code|TVL|2025}}
|}

==References==
<references />
*[http://www.dewielersite.net/db2/wielersite/wedstrijdfiche.php?wedstrijdid=7993 Cycling Archives]

==External links==
*{{official website|http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/peoples-choice-classic.htm}}

[[Category:Cycle races in Australia]]
[[Category:Sports competitions in Adelaide]]
[[Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2006]]
[[Category:Men's road bicycle races]]
[[Category:2006 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Tour Down Under]]