Roll with us through the Adelaide Hills on the roads made famous by the Santos Tour Down Under – plus a few that only the locals know
Words and photography: James Raison
Every January, the world’s best cyclists descend on Adelaide for the Santos Tour Down Under, and it’s easy to see why. The climbs are close to the city, the roads roll through vineyards and valleys, and every cafe feels like it was built with cyclists in mind. Out here you don’t need to be a pro to feel the thrill of the race. We’re on the same tarmac and gravel where WorldTour riders test their legs, and in today’s Big Ride – ahead of the 2026 TDU – we’re stringing together some of the classic climbs, hidden backroads and bakery stops that make Adelaide one of the best cycling destinations on the planet.
It’s both easier and more complicated than you’d expect to piece together a great route through the beloved Adelaide Hills to showcase the depth and diversity here. It’s easy because the cycling here is widely lauded as great, and only a few clicks in the appropriate places will create a mighty fine Strava route. It’s complicated because I want to do Adelaide the justice it deserves. So many roads are well worn by both locals and the thousands of people making their annual cycling pilgrimage to earn a savage summer sunburn and cheer wildly when a rider accepts a Willunga Hill beer hand-up.
Being local, I spend a lot of January looking at the guided rides and thinking, ‘Oh, there’s a great little road that parallels that one,’ or ‘The gravel shortcut is so much better than the main road,’ and ‘just a couple of different turns would blow some minds!’ So, the route we’re following today is more than just the pure greatest hits of the TDU – it’s a compilation of some crowd-pleasing bangers interspersed with more obscure cuts and bootlegs known by the nerds and deeper divers. It’s a course that even the most veteran Adelaide cyclists, would look forward to riding.
Beyond the phenomenal riding, there are potential stops at three cafes, two bakeries, and a brewery all within the 90km course. For all of those reasons, it didn’t take much to convince three mates to saddle up on a brisk winter morning and test the route. The verdict? Superb. And there’s even a bit of gravel. It’s all well-cured, champagne gravel that’s road bike-friendly and used by local cyclists. Take heed, though: it’s still gravel. There are always surprise potholes or loosey-goosey patches to be aware of. But plenty of people have safely ridden these roads on their skinny tyres. Our route testers all used standard road bikes set up with 28-32 mm tubeless tyres.
But enough talking. Let’s take a Big Ride through Adelaide and its beloved hills ahead of the 2026 Santos Tour Down Under.
Coffee addicts assemble
Our start location is Hibernia Cafe on Magill Road. It’s a handful of kilometres from the city and bidon-throwing distance from our first climb, thus a solid starting point to assemble your crew and drain a brew. We spent most of the time speculating on just how cold the roads ahead would be – typically not a concern for the blazing weather visitors face in January.
Hitting the tarmac, Norton Summit is our gateway into the eastern Adelaide Hills and one of the crowd-pleasing bangers I promised. For the uninitiated into Adelaide cycling, Norton Summit is symbolic of all the things we like about riding here:
it’s a beautiful climb with lovely views, close to the city, and has low traffic. It’s the local performance yardstick, too –
your ‘Norton PR’ is the ultimate arbiter of cycling cachet.
That said, Norton Summit has rarely been a decisive climb in the TDU. The best December and January Norton Summit action is on Strava. Every year, the local hitters and WorldTour elites training in Adelaide obliterate their PBs and set mind blowing average speeds. In 2026, the pros will be visiting Norton Summit on Thursday’s Health Partners Stage 2 before the stage makes two passes up nearby Corkscrew Road. This will be a monster stage to watch from the roadside with so much of the course within a few square kilometres.
After completing the official Strava-recognised climb, we roll a few more kilometres past the Scenic Hotel – a venue that’s worth a visit later in the day – and make the first deviation from the obvious path; dropping down to Debneys Road. It’s a charming meander along narrow tarmac that turns to gravel past some hidden vineyards and bemused-looking sheep.
Our next notable section is dropping down Pound Road and Knotts Hill Road. We’re descending where the men’s peloton climbed twice on the third stage of the 2025 Santos Tour Down Under. This is a deceptively tricky road with an occasionally rough surface and fast, off-camber corners – one to be treated with respect lest you end up in a roadside ditch. At the bottom is a four-way intersection where every single road is a steep-but-quite-lovely climb out. Burdetts Road, aka ‘Little Italy’, is the pick of the bunch – but that’s for another day.
Blockers Road is our next climb, a place that will transport you to another world of quiet beauty – before showing a nasty sting in the tail. The smooth gravel road winds around multiple hillsides, gradually climbing up and treating you to stellar landscapes. The collection of French cars is your fair warning that things are about to hurt with a final ramp kicking up to around 20% until Blockers terminates at Mawson Road.
The gravel grinding has only just begun, and seven glorious kilometres of undulating champagne gravel await along Mawson and Croft roads. The left side of the road is interspersed with Forestry SA plantations, while the right side is a smattering of agriculture. Anderson Hill Winery is where things change, and an expansive view opens up over South Australia’s premier mountain biking destination, Fox Creek Bike Park.
Chasing the fox
Our ride adventure is long from over so tear yourself away from Anderson Hill – and their delectable wood-oven pizzas – because it’s time to lose the altitude you’ve been banking thus far. The road transitions back to freshly laid tarmac at the Fox Creek Bike Park Upper Carpark, and we’re following a punchy set of undulations before dropping down to rejoin our first proper road in a while.
Turning left onto Fox Creek Road is a damn good reason for excitement. It’s a fun descent with sweeping corners, a wide hairpin, and a smooth new surface. Fox Creek is another TDU staple, both as a climb and descent. The year 2020 saw it immortalised in a now-iconic image showing the destruction of the devastating 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires.
We’re briefly rolling on to Gorge Road, a ribbon of winding tarmac made famous for eye-wateringly fast descents to TDU sprint finishes. Once again though, we’re deviating from the obvious roads and chasing more gravel on the simply beautiful sequence of Langley Road and Berry Hill Road. These are dreamy backroads, barely two lanes wide, carved through valleys lined by steep hills before the tarmac returns on Nether Hill Road.
We’re only 15km from our stop in Lobethal, and the course makes you earn that almond croissant. The roads constantly alternate between gravel and tarmac, punchy climbs and rolling descents. You’ll forget the quickly changing road names; the vistas will certainly stick in your memory, though. It’s a lush part of the country, draped in vineyards and manicured farm landscapes. Cows watch dreamily from the fencelines, chewing on the abundant and juicy winter grasses. These back roads of Lobethal have
become a favourite of TDU organisers, who use them to showcase expansive vineyards in the Eastern Hills.
We’re closing in on a much-anticipated food and coffee stop – but not before taking on the Jungfer Road triple kicker before dropping in to Lobethal. They don’t call ’em the Adelaide Hills for nothing!
The Germanic town of Lobethal is steeped in TDU history, easily among the most popular places for a stage start, finish, or just sending the race through. It’s a goldmine of sprint points for 2026. Health Partners Men’s Stage 2 passes through twice, while Health Partners Women’s Stage 2, and Hyundai Women’s Stage 3 passes through once each. Lobethal is a brilliant place to spectate
thanks to abundant services (brewery, cafes, bakery, public bathrooms, bottle filling station), and the slightly uphill
main street makes for excellent race visibility.
We’re in town for the smooth coffee and delectable treats found at Emma & Ivy. It’s renowned among cyclists for the quality products, outdoor seating and handy bike parking. Want a less formal eating experience? Roll up the main street to the excellent Lobethal Bakery. At Emma & Ivy, we engage with some millennial core as we all choose avocado on toast. Like true cyclists, we all order slightly different coffees too.
The back side of Mt Lofty
It’s a soft warm-up for your cafe legs as the route rolls downhill to exit the west end of town. It won’t be long before our turn off Adelaide-bound Lobethal Road and on to the gorgeous Western Branch Road. It’s a fun tarmac blast before turning left and hitting our next section of gravel on our way to a ride highlight.
Burns Road is the hidden gem of this area. You’re introduced to this lovely section of strade bianche with a straight descent before crossing a bridge and beginning a gradual climb up through some agricultural properties. There is, naturally, a smattering of livestock and vineyards all the way to the top. We’re back on sealed roads now for some of Adelaide’s best stretches. Lobethal Road undulates and winds its way through Lenswood, Forest Range, and up to Basket Range.
It keeps you busy the whole time. You’ll be punching up the small rises and sending it down descents for 10 glorious kays. The drop from Lobethal Road and Deviation Road is a particular highlight where quality bike handlers can pin it through the serpentine sequence of corners.
The route takes you off Lobethal Road and jumps aboard the Range Road rollercoaster. It’s all up-and-down until the road delivers you into Uraidla and the triple-threat Uraidla Republic Cafe, Bakery & Brewery. If you didn’t fill up in Lobethal, here’s your chance to make amends. Picking a favourite food is tough, but the pies are good, honest fare, and a cheesecake cronut is never a bad choice.
The final push over Mt Lofty awaits, but first we’re rolling through Piccadilly Valley’s fruit trees and strawberry fields before jumping onto Gores Road and our final taste of gravel. Sprigg Road is a popular cut-through from the back side of Mt Lofty to the popular Summit Road. Sprigg’s surface is skinny-tyre-friendly, and drops you in the perfect spot to roll towards Greenhill Road or keep pushing uphill to Mt Lofty Summit. We’ve chosen the former, and it won’t be long before the ride’s final crescendo.
Greenhill Road towards Adelaide is one of our best descending roads. It’s 7km of sweeping turns and multiple hairpins, and the lower third offers a phenomenal view of the CBD. Keep your eyes up and wits about you though, because it’s a moderately technical road taken at speed.
Our final destination is Taylor Blend on Hallett Road for the post-ride brew and debrief. As we roll back towards the city, the descent of Greenhill Road unfurls in front of us – seven flowing kilometres that frame Adelaide on the horizon and remind us why this region is the beating heart of Australian cycling.
These are the same roads that test the world’s best at the Santos Tour Down Under, yet they remain open to every rider who wants to taste a little of that magic. From Norton Summit to Lobethal’s bakeries, and from champagne gravel to the back side of Mt Lofty, the Adelaide Hills deliver challenge, beauty and reward in equal measure. Whether you come in January to cheer on the pros or in the quiet months to explore with friends, this is cycling at its purest – close to the city, yet a world away. Adelaide is waiting.
