Santos Tour Down Under 2026 preview - Defending champion Narváez headlines in 'toughest race on record'

The 2026 Santos Tour Down Under is almost upon us, and as the opening fixture of the Men's WorldTour calendar, the race offers a plethora of opportunities for those taking part. 

For some, it marks the start of pastures new, a chance to race with new teammates in a different environment and sport a fresh new team kit. For others, the race presents the opportunity to kick on from a successful previous campaign, whilst there will be many looking at the Tour Down Under as a moment to kick-start a breakthrough 2026 campaign.

The race organisers have described this edition as the "toughest race on record," and with the calibre of riders on the start line, it could become a memorable race for the ochre jersey, just like it was in 2025.

Twelve months ago, there were plenty of narratives that shaped the race. It was Déjà vu in the sprints as Sam Welsford stormed to three stage victories in the sprints and claimed the points classification, just as he did in the 2023 edition.

There was also another WorldTour win for Bryan Coquard, the third in three years for the Frenchman who hadn't ever won at this level previously, despite 48 professional victories. The 33-year-old Frenchman won't have the opportunity to claim his third stage win Down Under after Cofidis's relegation from the WorldTour at the end of 2025. 

Javier Romo was perhaps a name not well known, but the former triathlete came oh so close to winning the general classification after taking the race lead when he won solo on stage three with a late attack. 

Ultimately, despite a top effort to defend his lead on Willunga Hill, which even saw him attack from the front, Jhonatan Narváez's explosive nature proved too much, and he snatched the ochre jersey from Romo, who had to settle for a still impressive runners-up spot overall. Finn Fisher-Black rounded out the final podium, and spoiler alert, but last year's top three will be present in 2026.

The 2026 Santos Tour Down Under promises to be one of the toughest and most exciting editions in the race's history, kicking off the UCI WorldTour season with a blend of tradition but also some uncharted territory. 

Across six stages, across 758.9km, the Tour Down Under kicks off on January 20 with a short but explosive prologue of 3.6km in Adelaide, where riders will ride on road bikes rather than time trial setups. 

Stage 1 offers an early chance for the sprinters to shine. The route includes multiple laps featuring the gentle Menglers Hill (2.1 km at 3.9%), ideal for mountain points but unlikely to drop the fast men. Sprinters like Sam Welsford will target victory here before tougher days arrive.

Stage 2 ramps up the intensity early, with the Norton summit climb (10 km at 4%) followed by rolling terrain and two ascents of the notorious Corkscrew Road (2.4 km at 9.7%). This brutal double will likely cause damage in the peloton, with a rolling finale deciding if chasers can bridge back to the strongest riders on the climb.

Stage 3 provides a relative respite for sprinters, featuring categorised climbs like Wickham Hill and Mount Barker. While not easy, GC teams will likely control the pace to avoid chaos, setting up a probable bunch sprint on the 19 km finishing loop.

The queen stage arrives on Stage 4, where the iconic Australian climb Willunga Hill (3 km at 7.5%) will be tackled three times, a first for the race, and a stage that could bear significant consequences on the general classification.

The grand finale on Stage 5 introduces a new, attritional circuit in the Adelaide Hills. The featured Stirling ascent (2 km at 4%) offers multiple attack opportunities on a World Championship-style loop, and racing the race of the circuit will require intelligence as well as strength in order to prevail.

With the return of the prologue, double Corkscrew Road ascents, triple Willunga Hill climbs, and this demanding curtain-closer, the 2026 edition stands out as one of the most attritional yet, and will see a worthy winner of the ochre jersey come January 25.

For more details on the 2026 Santos Tour Down Under route, here is the full stage-by-stage guide.

The defending champion, Jhonatan Narváez, headlines the field and is flanked by the 2023 champion Jay Vine as well as Adam Yates, who will make his debut down under. After a record-breaking season for UAE Team Emirates-XRG with 95 victories, the team will no doubt be aiming and perhaps expecting to start their 2026 season off with a bang. 

A sure way to do that would be by winning the general classification once more, and with multiple cards to play, UAE are one of the teams that can play the numbers game, which could be a significant advantage.

Australian team Jayco AlUla will be spearheaded by Ben O’Connor, who will be aiming to find more consistency after a season of ups and downs in 2025. The Australian’s stage victory at the Tour de France on the Col de la Loze proved what O’Connor can do in the purple colours of Jayco AlUla when he finds his groove, and a return to the Tour Down Under for the first time since 2023 could be an important moment for the Australian.

Mauro Schmid and Luke Plapp are two riders who excel in the early-season Australian races, and alongside O’Connor will be confident of making their mark on this year’s Tour Down Under. Plapp finished 6th overall twelve months ago, whilst Schmid won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race shortly after the Tour Down Under.

Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Javier Romo (Movistar), Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ United), George Bennett (NSN), and Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM), Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché), Chris Harper and Damien Howson (Australia) are some of the other names who could feature in the general classification battle.

In terms of the sprints, there has been one rider who has stood head and shoulders above the rest in recent editions. Sam Welsford has been a prolific winner at the Tour Down Under with three stage wins and the points classification in each of the previous two editions, making him the man to beat in the sprints, as he makes his debut for Ineos Grenadiers. 

However, one man who is likely to pose the biggest threat to Welsford’s stranglehold on the sprints at the Tour Down Under is a British star in the making. Matthew Brennan leads the line for Visma | Lease a Bike in Australia, and the Briton will be chasing stage victory after narrowly missing out on the opening day last year, finishing 2nd behind Welsford on his WorldTour debut. 

2025 was a major breakthrough year for Brennan, who scored an excellent twelve victories in his debut season as a professional, and the 20-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down his rapid rise in the peloton. 

Other established fast men include recent Grand Tour stage winners and new Soudal-QuickStep signing Alberto Dainese, Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL), as well as Ethan Vernon and Corbin Strong (NSN), Tobias Lund Andresen, who has moved to Decathlon CMA CGM, and Dutch champion Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), who will be looking to pick up the new season where he left off after a strong end to 2025.

Additionally, the Tour Down Under and first WorldTour race of the season marks an opportunity for some of the less-established riders to illustrate their talent and earn confidence from their respective teams for leadership opportunities later in the season. Young riders such as Sente Sentjens (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) are among those who could grab an opportunity if presented to them in a sprint. 

Here is the full start list for the 2026 Santos Tour Down Under.