2017 Tour Down Under

As the Tour Down Under was a UCI World Tour event, all eighteen UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and obliged to enter a team in the race.[12] One other team was given a wildcard entry into the race: UniSA–Australia.[13]

The route of the 2017 Tour Down Under was announced at the beginning of July 2016 and centred around the city of Adelaide in South Australia. There were six mass-start road stages and no time trials.[14] Two days before the start of the Tour, there was a flat criterium race, the People's Choice Classic, which took place in Rymill Park and which was suited for the sprinters.[15] It was won by Caleb Ewan (Orica–Scott) in a sprint finish.[16] The first five stages of the race itself included at least some climbing, and a few opportunities for the sprinters, especially stage one. Several stages of the Tour included climbs early in the stage and hilly circuits at the end. The second stage reversed this with circuits at the beginning and a climb immediately before the finish. The fifth stage finished with two climbs of Willunga Hill, which had been decisive in previous editions of the race. The final stage was another criterium around the centre of Adelaide.[17]

Stage schedule

Stage	Date	Route	Distance	Type		Winner
1	17 January	Unley to Lyndoch	118.5 km (74 mi)[lower-alpha 1]		Hilly stage	Caleb Ewan (AUS)
2	18 January	Stirling to Paracombe	148.5 km (92 mi)		Medium-mountain stage	Richie Porte (AUS)
3	19 January	Glenelg to Victor Harbor	144 km (89 mi)		Hilly stage	Caleb Ewan (AUS)
4	20 January	Norwood to Campbelltown	149.5 km (93 mi)		Medium-mountain stage	Caleb Ewan (AUS)
5	21 January	McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill	151.5 km (94 mi)		Medium-mountain stage	Richie Porte (AUS)
6	22 January	Adelaide	90 km (56 mi)		Flat stage	Caleb Ewan (AUS)

In the 2017 Tour Down Under, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers at intermediate sprints and at the finish of mass-start stages, the leader received an ochre jersey.[37] This classification was considered the most important of the 2017 Tour Down Under, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.

Additionally, there was a sprints classification, which awarded a red jersey.[37] In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. For winning a stage, a rider earned 15 points, with one point fewer per place down to a single point for 15th place. Points towards the classification could also be accrued at intermediate sprint points during each stage; these intermediate sprints also offered bonus seconds towards the general classification. There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a white jersey with navy polka dots.[37] In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.

The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey.[37] This was decided in the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1993 were eligible to be ranked in the classification. There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.[37] In addition, there was a combativity award given after each stage to the rider(s) considered, by a jury, to have "instigated the most attacks, breakaways or assisted their teammates to the best advantage".[37]

Stage	Winner	General classification	Mountains classification	Sprint classification	Young rider classification	Most competitive rider(s)	Team classification
1[38]	Caleb Ewan	Caleb Ewan	Laurens De Vreese	Caleb Ewan	Caleb Ewan	Laurens De Vreese	Bora–Hansgrohe
2[39]	Richie Porte	Richie Porte	Richie Porte	Richie Porte	Ruben Guerreiro	Jasha Sütterlin	UniSA–Australia
3[40]	Caleb Ewan			Caleb Ewan		Vegard Stake Laengen
4[41]	Caleb Ewan					Jack Bauer & Cameron Meyer
5[42]	Richie Porte				Jhonatan Restrepo	Jack Bauer
6[43]	Caleb Ewan		Thomas De Gendt			Jack Bauer
Final		Richie Porte[1]	Thomas De Gendt[44]	Caleb Ewan[45]	Jhonatan Restrepo[46]	No final award	UniSA–Australia[47]

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