Match the climb to the cycling race

The organisers of the Tour Down Under had to scrap the use of Willunga Hill this year due to the risk of bush fires in the region as Southern Australia endures yet another blisteringly hot summer. Willunga Hill on the outskirts of Adelaide has been the race’s decisive point virtually every year with Richie Porte winning there so often that he was named the King of Willunga Hill.

Last year it was Jhonatan Narváez of UAE who sealed the win at the top of the 1.8 mile climb, and the year before that Stephen Williams cemented his GC win there by finishing second to a flying Oscar Onley. The climb has become synonymous with the race, as so many do. From the Poggio at Milan-San Remo to La Redoute in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, many of the world’s biggest races have their history written on the slops of a classic climb.