Australia's cycling scene has been given a boost with the Tour Down Under being elevated to a top tier ranking next year.
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The Adelaide men's race had been recognised as an Union Cycliste Internationale WorldTour event since 2008, but the women's was yet to be recognised as such.
The three-stage race from January 15-17 in 2023, however, will be recognised as a UCI WorldTour event in the women's.
It becomes Australia's only such race for women, and retired Canberra professional cyclist Gracie Elvin she said the event deserved nothing less.
"It's been such a great event for many years now in the men's cycling, and it's been building up in a really nice linear way for the women's race for quite a long time.," she said.
"I was lucky to race it when it was first just a bunch of crits, and then it turned into a tour and to be upgraded now to World tour level, it shows the class of the organisation of that race.
"Because it is one of the best races in my opinion in the whole year internationally."
The Tour Down Under introduced the women's race in 2016, before in 2018 it became the first cycling event in the world to offer the same prize money across both men's and women's races.
The race's recognition from UCI 2.2, to UCI ProSeries, and to now UCI WorldTour, means there will be an increase in season points available for international riders and teams taking part in 2023.
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The event in January kicks off the world tour season each year, and Elvin confirmed the increased points meant it would attract even more international competitors.
"It's a lot tougher for teams, because a lot them are European based, to come. So it has to be really worth their while but a lot of teams have come out in the past really enjoyed the experience," she said.
"We'll definitely see an increase in that interest to come out.
"It's good to get UCI points in cycling, it's a good way to get rankings both individually and as a team, so there's that incentive.
"But I think lots of people say they come to it because Australia's a beautiful country, Adelaide is a beautiful city and to be part of a Tour Down Under atmosphere.
"As it's always a lot of fun, and it has a great reputation for being one of the nicest races for men and women."
Although the two-time Australia road champion said an added boost to the Australian leg on the world tour, for both the men and women, would be the comeback of the Great Ocean Road Race.
As the event has not run since 2020.
"I'd be nice if they could bring that back, because that was quite a high level race as well," Elvin said.
"Having them in that same time period, so you can come to Australia in one go, in one block, and do a few races. As I just don't think it's possible to have world races in Australia at any other time of the year, it's too expensive and tough for teams."
Elvin was a commentator for the Tour Down Under earlier this year, and the elevated status of it is not making her shy away.
As she hopes to be part of it again come January.
"It's really nice for me to use all my past experience and stories in a new way to share that, and make it a little bit more of a richer experience for our audience," she said.