The Santos Best Dressed Town Competition has been a part of the event since its inception in 1999. This year, the Santos Best Dressed Town Competition continued as part of the Santos Tour Down Under.
The competition is a great way for South Australian communities to get involved and be a part of the excitement of the event.
Open to all towns, schools, businesses and households along the race route on all stages, efforts do not go unnoticed by the professional cycling teams who love the support and the atmosphere as they ride through regional and metropolitan South Australia.
2023 OVERALL WINNERS
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Santos Best Dressed Town
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Santos Best Dressed Private Property
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Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property
Uraidla
Overall winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Uraidla. The town showed plenty of community spirit, with bike themed decorations and a united theme of sunflowers and bees, adding lots of excitement and colour to this beautiful South Australian town.
SILVER: Lobethal
BRONZE: Tanunda
2023 Daily Winners
Sunday 15th January
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property is Gorgeous Soles in McLaren Vale. Gorgeous Soles had a beautiful well-coordinated window displaying Santos Tour Down Under colours. In the window they had special details with matching nail polish and purses. All fitting well with the judging criteria of appearance and innovation, whilst also displaying the Santos bunting.
Monday 16th January
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Uraidla and Summertown. With a theme of sunflower's and bee’s representing community connection, hope and happiness, the community involvement extended past the main street. Innovation was exceptional with lots of painting, handmade decorations and use of Santos bunting.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Property is Jordan Pote. With handcrafted suspended bike sculptures that took him and his son a week to make together, they captured the spirit of the race. Jordan loves cycling and was so excited to decorate the front of his house to get involved with the Santos Tour Down Under.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property is Adelaide Recycled Timbers. The team put lots of preparation and thought into their decorations with painting and decorations they incorporated from their business. A great environmental initiative. Lots of community involvement and they kept with Uraidla’s theme of Sunflower's and Bee’s.
Tuesday 17th January
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Lobethal. The town did a great job as a community, coordinating along the street to ensure that there was colour and excitement. Some environmental initiatives included old bicycles turned into decorations and handmade tassels and signs.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property is the Lobethal Hair Studio. The studio handcrafted a sheet with stitching which was very noticeable and seen from afar, as well as incorporating the Santos bunting and blue flowers, keeping to the Santos Tour Down Under brand.
Wednesday 18th January
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Tanunda. Tanunda had some great displays of decorations as a community, with lots of fun activities happening along the main street for spectators. Lots of Santos bunting and bright window displays on show.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property is Homburg Real Estate. Their amazing decorations included a handmade scarecrow dressed up as a cyclist, which was both innovative and eye catching. Lots of thought went into the decorations with the rider’s jerseys on display to show support for those in the peloton. Santos bunting and signs were also on display. Overall, very bright, colourful and fun.
Thursday 19th January
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Brighton. Brighton had a fun community atmosphere with lots of people travelling to Jetty Road to watch the start of the race. Crowds packed the esplanade to see a lady creating an amazing piece of sand art inspired by the race.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property is Brighton Jetty Bakery. With bike themed decorations that added colour to the street and bike themed donuts for the cycling fans, the bakery was bright and euphoric.
Friday 20th January
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Lobethal. The town lined the main street with innovative and fun creations using recycled materials, showing great environmental initiative. Santos bunting was seen everywhere showing support for the riders coming through their town.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Private Property is Bianca Heron. Bianca had a huge display in her front garden. On show was a decorated car, bicycles and handmade decorations showing great community spirit for the town and the Santos Tour Down Under.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property is Gumeracha Primary School and OSHC. There were handmade decorations on display as well as a decorated bike, Santos bunting and a fun skeleton on a bike. Cheering was on full blast as the Challenge Tour riders and the Santos Tour Down Under peloton passed through Gumeracha.
Saturday 21st January
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Willunga. Willunga had a great community atmosphere with many businesses decorated and local markets a buzz. Handmade bunting and sculptures were seen scattered throughout the main street adding lots of colour. A great community effort.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Property is Ken and Margaret Smith. Santos bunting was hung in the front yard as well as the riders jerseys hung up on their balcony for everyone to see. Ken and Margaret were so excited to see the race come past and show their support for the Santos Tour Down Under.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property is Willunga Glass Studio. The Studio put on a massive display with sculptures strung across the roof of the business - eye catching and fun. Plenty of Santos bunting decorated the front of the business adding colour and excitement.
Sunday 22nd January
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Town is Uraidla. Plenty of community spirit in Uraidla with lots of bike themed decorations as well as a united front displaying the town in sunflower and bees, adding lots of excitement and colour to this beautiful South Australian town.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Property is Barry Cummins. Barry and his wife Suzie put their time and effort into their front yard display, which was on theme with TDU and Uraidla's theme of sunflowers and bees. Bright and colourful, full of community spirit to encourage the riders.
Daily winner of the Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property is Max Milan, a men's clothing store located in Stirling. A beautiful front window display with hand painted bikes and patterns. Santos bunting was also on display to add a splash of blue.
Competition Details
- Santos Best Dressed Town
- Santos Best Dressed Private Property
- Santos Best Dressed Community or Business Venue
- Best Dressed Town - Community involvement, innovation, appearance and the use of Santos in your display
- Best Dressed Private Property & Community or Business Venue - Innovation, appearance and the use of Santos in your display
- Community Involvement: How involved is the community? Is the whole community being pro-active and contributing to the event? Do visitors (and judges) feel welcomed into the community? Is the community radiating with energy and excitement?
- Appearance: How much effort was placed into the preparation of the decorations, festivities and activities? Is the nominee exploding with colour and visual impact?
- Innovation: Have any creative measures been used in the planning, preparation and installation of the decorative efforts and local activities? Does the venue have any planned activations for the race?
- Santos Inclusion: How well has the nominee included Santos in their design?
- Environmental Initiatives: How well has the nominee used environmental initiatives in their design? What initiatives have been undertaken to reduce the environmental impact?
The Santos Best Dressed Town Competition will award
overall winners for each category, including gold, silver and bronze Best Dressed Town winners for the event.
There will also be a daily winner for each category at every stage.
DAILY WINNERS
Santos Best Dressed Town:
Framed certificate and $500.
Santos Best Dressed Private Property:
Framed certificate and gift pack.
Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property:
Framed certificate and gift pack.
OVERALL WINNERS
Santos Best Dressed Town - Gold:
Spark Furniture bespoke outdoor bench made from Australian hardwood and galvanised steel valued at $3,000, signed framed jersey, 2 x metal signs signifying win, $3000 to be spent on a community improvement project or resources of the nominee’s choice, as well as the town added to the perpetual winner’s trophy with 11 months display rights.
Santos Best Dressed Town - Silver:
Signed framed jersey, $1500 to be spent on a community improvement project or resources of the nominee’s choice.
Santos Best Dressed Town - Bronze:
Signed framed jersey, $750 to be spent on a community improvement project or resources of the nominee’s choice.
Santos Best Dressed Private Property:
Framed certificate, gift pack and $1000.
Santos Best Dressed Commercial or Community Property:
Framed certificate, gift pack and $1000.