Tour Down Under 2026
20.01-25.01
The 2026 Tour Down Under ran from 20 to 25 January 2026, returning as the traditional WorldTour season opener in the Australian summer around Adelaide. This year’s race covered 713.7 kilometres across five stages and a prologue. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won the race for the second time, ahead of Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost).
How to watch?
Curious about how to watch the 2026 Tour Down Under? Discover it in our complete how to watch guide, featuring a full overview of all broadcasters and streaming options.
Route
The 2026 Tour Down Under opens with a sharp prologue in central Adelaide before moving through the Barossa, the Adelaide Hills and the Fleurieu Peninsula. The week mixes fast racing, punchy climbs and two climbing tests that will shape the general classification early in the WorldTour season.
The prologue runs over 3.6 kilometres from Victoria Square to Victoria Park, favouring explosive riders who can deliver five minutes of all out effort. Stage 1 heads into the Barossa with three loops around Tanunda, a return to Menglers Hill and a likely sprint finish. Stage 2 is one for the climbers, travelling from Norwood to Uraidla with Norton Summit, Mt Lofty and two ascents of Corkscrew Road creating the hardest climbing day of the week.
Stage 3 starts at Henley Beach and moves into the Adelaide Hills, featuring Wickham Hill and Summit Road before a fast run into Nairne. Stage 4 is the queen stage with three ascents of Willunga Hill, the first time the climb has appeared in such a demanding format. The race ends with a long final stage in Stirling, built around eight laps of an undulating circuit that rewards endurance before the overall winner is crowned.
The full stage-by-stage guide can be found here.
Favourites
UAE Team Emirates-XRG arrive as the obvious starting point for the overall conversation. Defending champion Jhonatan Narváez is back, and the support is as strong as it gets for January racing with Adam Yates and Jay Vine alongside him. If the race turns selective in the hills, that trio gives UAE multiple ways to win, whether it is Narváez finishing it off or Yates and Vine forcing the damage earlier.
INEOS Grenadiers will draw plenty of attention too, even without Oscar Onley on the start list. Jack Haig is a ready made GC option for this kind of terrain, while Sam Welsford instantly makes them one of the teams to beat on the sprint days.
Behind those two, the main challengers look spread across teams. Ben O’Connor leads Jayco-AlUla on home roads with Luke Plapp as a dangerous second card, while Visma | Lease a Bike bring Matthew Brennan as a stage hunting threat after his near miss on day one last year. Bahrain Victorious have Santiago Buitrago as a proven climber who can turn a hard stage into a GC bid, and keep an eye on Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe with Laurence Pithie and Finn Fisher-Black for results.
The full startlist can be found here and read our full preview via this link.
Also read:
Five GC contenders for the 2026 Men's Tour Down Under
Five talents to watch at the 2026 Men's Tour Down Under
