Valtteri Bottas is set to bring a brand-new cycling event to Adelaide next January as part of the Tour Down Under event.
Bottas and partner Tiffany Cromwell, co-owners in the GRVL cycling series, will host the inaugural RADL GRVL from January 18-20.
The event will take in a mixture of sealed and gravel roads across the regions around Adelaide from its base in the heart of the city, Victoria Square.
“I’ve enjoyed some very memorable gravel rides around Adelaide and McLaren Vale over the last few years, so when the opportunity arose to bring an event to the area I was fully committed,” said Bottas.
“Last June I had the chance to introduce the gravel cycling community to the riding around my hometown of Lahti, Finland at FNLD GRVL, and this year I’m excited that Tiffany gets to do the same around her backyard of South Australia.”
Adelaide-born Cromwell, a two-time stage winner of the Giro D’Italia Donne, added: “I’ve spent years racing professionally, and the unpaved roads around my hometown of Adelaide are the reason I fell in love with gravel cycling.
“I’m looking forward to bringing RADL GRVL to McLaren Vale at Santos Tour Down Under this January and showing riders from around Australia and beyond what makes the riding, scenery, and hospitality in South Australia so special.”
The three-day event begins with a ‘shake-out’ ride before a competitive outing in McLaren Vale on Day 2.
A recovery ride then follows, ending with a watch party on Wilunga Hill to coincide with Stage 5 of the Tour Down Under.
Bottas is no stranger to the South Australian cycling community, having taken part in a criterium around Glenelg and has highlighted a potential move to Adelaide in future.
This year, he was the headline act at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, where he took the wheel of the 2016 Bathurst 1000-winning Holden Commodore.
