Stage 6 - Adelaide City Council Circuit

Sunday 22nd January

Watch the Adelaide City Council Circuit preview video

Riders return to the city for the final stage of the 2012 Santos Tour Down Under, cycling 20 fast and furious laps of the Adelaide street circuit totalling 90km over approximately two hours.

The race doesn't begin until 1.15pm, so there is plenty of time for some brunch on Rundle Street or to browse the shops in Rundle Mall.

If shopping doesn't appeal to the kids, they have the chance of riding on a UCI World Tour track, just like the cycling world's greats. Before the main race, the Bupa Mini Tour for Kids presented by UniSA will be held at Elder Park. Children between 6 and 12 will be allocated 20 minutes to ride a special mini tour track, only hours before the world's elite cyclists race in the final stage. For more information, visit the Santos Tour Down Under website here.

No matter where you're positioned, you should get a good view of the riders as they complete the 4.5km circuit twenty times. But if you are a sprint fan, you will want to get a spot near the finish.

Former winner Patrick Jonker said this final stage should be an exciting finish to the Tour.

 "Expect today's stage to be very, very fast, with the sprinters and the all-rounder cyclists expected to dominate today's proceedings," hesaid.

"Mark Renshaw (RaboBank) should do well. He has a big engine and gets better as it goes on so he could be right up there at the end."

The circuit begins with the cyclists heading towards the city on King William Road before a U-turn sends them north back up King William Road; they then turn left onto War Memorial drive where they pass Adelaide Oval and Memorial Drive Tennis Courts.

The riders then take right turn onto Montefiore Road to tackle Montefiore Hill, before turning right again onto Pennington Terrace.  From there they turn onto Sir Edwin Smith Avenue and take a sharp hairpin turn onto Frome Road, rejoining War Memorial Drive and back onto King William Road to the start/finish line.

The circuit is predominantly flat except for the climb up Montefiore Road, which, after five straight days of cycling and 713km already travelled, will represent a challenge even for the best riders in the world.

The final Jayco Sprints will occur on lap 8 which is 36km into the race, and again on the 12th lap, 54km into the race. These two sprints will be the last chance for cyclists to earn points towards the Jayco Sprint Jersey.

Also on the final stage will be two Skoda King of the Mountain sections (laps 10 and 15), a last chance for the riders to garner points for the Skoda King of the Mountain Jersey.