The Santos Festival of Cycling may be positioned as an Australian national road series, but the organization surrounding it and the coverage it provides has much more in common with a women's World Tour race, which is where the South Australian event is headed It continues to be the direction.

It would be understandable if the momentum towards the top class slowed after the cancellation of the 2. Pro Women's Tour Down Under for two years in the wake of COVID-19. However, the Santos Festival of Cycling served as a clear reminder that the race is eagerly awaiting a return to the international calendar.

"Our team is serious about this event, the state of South Australia and the government are serious about it, and our sponsors and stakeholders are serious about cycling here in South Australia in January. Despite the disappointment of not being able to host an international event this year, we are going to showcase the best of Australian racing here," women's race director Kimberly Conte told Cycling News in Adelaide.

This year's race was held from January 23-26 and featured three road stages to determine the general classification and a varied course, a criterium in the heart of Adelaide.

The race and a peloton filled with young hopefuls were all livestreamed from start to finish to ensure that the peloton was noticed beyond its own country.

"The fact that people abroad could watch this race online is really important, and we know they did," Conte said.

"While the race was on, we were getting messages from international teams. It's really important for us to keep South Australia and keep this event in front of people not only here in Adelaide and Australia, but all over the world.

The combination of gravel sectors, strategically placed climbs, and time bonuses from the intermediate sprints kept the race dynamic and also kept the GC reorganized throughout the last few kilometers of the race.

While Ruby Roseman-Gannon (BikeExchange-Jayco) narrowly defended the overall jersey throughout, each day of the four-day race produced a different winner.

In addition, riders under the age of 19 who will represent Australia at the 2021 World Championships had the opportunity to add to the racing excitement by being named to the national team, Team Garmin Australia, along with national top-ranked rider Grace Brown.

"The silver lining to all of this is that we were able to showcase some of the most talented Australian riders this year," Conte said. 'The talent, and the depth of that talent, is unreal.'

Bike Exchange Jayco, Australia's only world team, was won by Roseman-Gannon (an NRS rider last year) and Georgia Baker on the final two days of racing. But it was 21-year-old Emily Watts (Knights of Suburbia) who won on the first day of racing, and South Australian Maeve Plouffe (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast), who excels on the circuit, on the second day of racing. New Australian champion Nicole Frayne (Roxsalt Rive-SRAM) also kept her place on the podium, finishing second overall.

For the Women's Tour Down Under, Women's World Tour status is in sight.

Asked about the possibility of moving up the ranks to the Women's World Tour in a short period of time, Conte said, "It's definitely possible.

"It will take a huge amount of effort. Of course there are discussions with the UCI and with the stakeholders. Of course there are discussions with the UCI and with stakeholders."

"It's not easy to say, 'We're going to have a World Tour race next year,' but we're definitely going to have one at this event, and we're going to have a World Tour race next year.

"Whether that will happen in 2023 or move forward to 2024 or beyond is yet to be determined, but we will be delighted if it does and we are fortunate that there are many top international teams that want to come back, whatever the status of this event."