The Santos Tour Down Under will be keeping the suspense running right till the very last stages of the men's and women's races in 2026, both ending with challenging days that open the way for changes in the general classification till the final line.
The six-day South Australian men's Tour Down Under from January 20-25, which it was earlier announced would start with a prologue, will see the Queen stage unfolding on the penultimate day with three climbs of Willunga Hill while a Stirling loop will provide the closing stage, but there are also a number of opportunities to claim time earlier.
“We’ve also added some new challenges like two climbs up Corkscrew Road that will be a real GC shaker," said race director Stuart O'Grady of the addition of the double run up the popular ascent to an already climb heavy stage 2 of the men's event. "And the final day has moved from a sprint-friendly stage in the city to a really hard circuit around Stirling where anything could happen.
“The peloton will do eight laps of a 21km circuit with plenty of short, punchy climbs which means the race for the ochre jersey could go down to the very last kilometre.”
The season opening Women's WorldTour race from January 17-19, which for the first time will have all 15 WorldTour teams in attendance, is also stepping up the challenge with organisers saying the feedback had been – even with the potential heat of the southern hemisphere summer race and early time slot – that teams were looking for longer and harder stages.
“So from day one of the season we start with our longest ever women’s stage with 137km in Willunga which will be a great spectacle," said assistant race director Carlee Taylor. “Health Partners Stage 2 is our first ever start in Magill followed by an uphill finish in Paracombe which is sure to create some fireworks and suit the all-rounders.
“But the most exciting addition to the race is Hyundai Stage 3 which starts in Norwood for the first time and includes two climbs up Corkscrew Road, the second ascent coming 5km before the finish in Campbelltown so we expect that to be very popular among spectators and the riders.”
This year Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) stepped into the lead of the Women's Tour Down Under on stage 2 by winning on the top of Willunga Hill while the six-stage men's event was won by Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who also moved into the top spot on the penultimate day of racing to the top of the Willunga climb.
2026 stage detail
Women's WorldTour race stages
- Stage 1: Willunga to Willunga (137.4km), Saturday January 17
- Stage 2: Magill to Paracombe (130.7km), Sunday January 18
- Stage 3: Norwood to Campbelltown (126.5km), Monday January 19
Men's WorldTour race stages
- Prologue: Adelaide (3.6km), Tuesday January 20
- Stage 1: Tanunda to Tanunda (120.6km), Wednesday January 21
- Stage 2: Norwood to Uraidla (148.1km), Thursday January 22
- Stage 3: Henley Beach to Nairne (140.8km), Friday January 23
- Stage 4: Brighton to Willunga Hill (176km), Saturday January 24
- Stage 5: Stirling to Stirling (169.8km), Sunday January 25
