The opening event of the men's WorldTour and Women's WorldTour, the Santos Tour Down Under, has confirmed that the racing in South Australia will run through from January 17-25, with a prologue returning to the men's event while the top tier field in the women's race will swell in numbers with a full complement of women's WorldTeams.
Initially scheduled at the top of the Women's WorldTour calendar, released last month with dates to be confirmed, the timing of the three-stage women's event is now set for January 17-20. The attendance of all 15 WorldTeams marks a big step up from the nine on the start list this year and 14 teams altogether.
The men's six-stage race will start on Tuesday, January 20, with a 3.6km inner-city prologue which will begin just outside the Tour Village in Victoria Square and head to Victoria Park.
“A prologue is a great way to kick start the first UCI WorldTour ace of the season because it shakes up the dynamic of the Tour, throwing man and machine against the clock, straight away," race director Stuart O'Grady said in a race media release.
"Instead of a traditional sprint stage to start, it should create a more aggressive style of racing for the rest of the week because there might be guys who find themselves 10 or 20 seconds behind and they need to get that time back somewhere."
The race, which plays out in the heat of the southern hemisphere summer, has long been the opening fixture in the top tier of international racing, slotting in after the domestic riders settle who will wear the jersey of the Australian road champions and before the Australian block concludes with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
This year, the three-stage women's Tour Down Under was won by Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly), who stepped into the ochre leader's jersey after winning the mid-race stage to the top of Willunga Hill. The six-stage men's event was claimed by Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who also stepped into the top spot on the penultimate day of racing, finishing at the top of the Willunga climb.
There was no prologue starter in 2025 or 2024, with the 5.5km timed dash introduced for the return of the race after two years of COVID-19 cancellations in 2023. The race against the clock, ridden on road bikes due to the difficulty and cost of adding the transport of time trial equipment halfway around the world to the already challenging logistics, this year will have a time trial style start ramp and hot seat.
The full route announcement for both the men's and women's races is set to come out on Thursday.
