The Santos Tour Down Under has announced the 2021 men's and women's race dates. The race organization also claims another successful year of showing the world South Australia's response to the Adelaide Hills bushfires. Australian natural gas company Santos has confirmed that it will remain a race sponsor in 2021.

The 2021 Santos Tour Down Under will take place January 14-24, with the women's race January 14-17. The men's race will begin with the Schwalbe Classic Criterium on January 17, followed by a six-stage road race from January 19-24.

This year's race was held before the COVID-19 pandemic and race interruption. In a statement, race organizers said: "The Santos Tour Down Under is working to provide a complete program for the 2021 race and will continue to monitor the situation related to COVID-19."

The race will be held on the same day as the race.

Richie Porte (Trek Segafredo) took his second overall men's win after a tense battle with Daryl Impey and the Mitchelton Scott team. Ruth Winder gave Trek-Segafredo a complete victory and became the youngest women's winner in history.

According to market research, 44,801 in-state and out-of-state visitors came to South Australia to participate in the race, and the event generated an economic impact of $66.4 million for South Australia. A total of 779,362 spectators cheered on the world's best cyclists as they rode 1,304 km around the state.

"I am truly pleased with the results of the 2020 Games at a difficult time for all Australians. These achievements should be celebrated by the services and businesses that directly contributed to the Games. Hundreds of volunteers, state emergency services including SAPOL, CFS and SES, event partners including naming rights partner Santos, and the host council," said Hitaf Rasheed, Executive Director of Events for South Australia.

"We are proud of the role the Santos Tour Down Under has been able to play at a very difficult time for South Australia. The Adelaide Hills region was featured in 6 of the 10 stages and the message of visiting and consuming the affected towns was particularly well received by visitors"

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In 2021, the Santos Tour Down Under is expected to once again open the men's World Tour calendar and become a major women's race after the 2020 season was moved to between July and November due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

2020 will be Mike Turtur's 22nd and final year as race director, and he will be succeeded by Stuart O'Grady.