The men’s Tour Down Under kicks off with a prologue time trial on Tuesday evening in Adelaide. The time differences created by the 5.5km loop around River Torrens are set to reveal the real overall contenders but keep the overall battle for victory tantalisingly close.
It is the first time a prologue time trial has been included in the Tour Down Under. Race director and former rider Stuart O’Grady wanted to mix up the format of the race in his first year in full charge as the race returns after a two-year COVID-19 pandemic hiatus.
He has replaced the final stage and final showdown on Willunga Hill with perhaps a harder final stage that ends atop Mount Lofty, overlooking downtown Adelaide.
“This race has come down to seconds before and so the prologue will be crucial. It mixes the racing up a bit and is a great way to start this race. It’ll be really interesting,” Geraint Thomas predicted despite ruling himself out after the recurrence of an infection.
“The course is technical, with a few corners. It’s the first big five-minute effort of the year and so it’ll hurt."
The Women’s Tour Down Under ends on Tuesday with a hilly road race and the men’s race kicks off with the prologue in the evening when the expected 37C heat of the Australian summer will have subsided to 27C.
The prologue time trial covers a 5.5km course that starts near the Adelaide Oval cricket ground and then twists and climbs around the Adelaide Parks and Torrens River with a sweeping descent towards the finish testing the riders’ nerve and bike skills.
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The riders will have to use their road race bikes rather than time trial bikes to ease logistic and early-season equipment issues. Aero bars are also not permitted but skinsuits, disc wheels and aero helmets are, perhaps offering some a slight marginal gain to the brave and talented time trialists on the start list.
Cyclingnews has spoken to a number of teams in recent days but few riders plan to adapt or lower their handlebars and cockpits to try to find a more aerodynamic position for the time trial. Instead, they prefer to stick to the position they know and trust, with any aerodynamic gains coming by staying low but fast on their road bikes.
Adelaide native Rohan Dennis (Jumbo-Visma) is a logical favourite as a former world time trial champion. It will be interesting to see how he performs on a road bike and if he is on form for a shot at overall victory.
Rohan Dennis (Image credit: Getty Images)
Thomas predicted his young teammates Ethan Hayter, Magnus Sheffield and Australian road race champion Luke Plapp to do well.
Other names on the start list include Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) and perhaps even new Australian time trial champion Jay Vine, who is an overall threat.
Criterium winner Caleb Ewan, who is riding for the Australian national team, could also try to use his power and speed to take another win.
The teams have been studying each other's form since arriving in Adelaide and gathering in the team area for daily training rides.
One experienced directeur sportif was unsure of Pello Bilbao’s form last week but then warned Cyclingnews the Bahrain Victorious rider is apparently on good form and targeting overall victory.
Team Jayco AlUla lamented the absence of their home WorldTour race as they fought to avoid relegation in 2021 and 2022. They are back in force looking to win the Tour Down Under once again, convincing Classics leader Michael Matthews and stage race leader Simon Yates to travel down Under and to peak early for January. The Jayco AlUla team also includes Luke Durbridge, Lucas Hamilton, Michael Hepburn, Chris Harper and Kiwi Campbell Stewart.
Matthews will fight in the GC by trying to pick up bonus seconds on stages, while Yates’ aggressive climbing style seems ideal for an assault on overall victory if the race becomes too selective for Matthews.
“Everyone is going to ride their own race. We'll ride ours and the more GC-focused guys will ride there,” Matthews said, serious about Jayco AlUla and his rivals’ ambitions.
“We know our strengths and so do they. They’ve got to try to get rid of us on the climbs and we're going to climb back up via the intermediate sprints and time bonuses at stage finishes. If it proves too hard for me, we’ve got a backup plan. We’re up for the challenge.”
Matthews is not a renowned time trialist but is fast, powerful and hungry.
Cyclingnews was reminded by EF Education-EasyPost directeur sportif Tom Southam that Matthews won a 6.1km Paris-Nice prologue time trial in 2016, beating Tom Dumoulin and Pat Bevin, who is also racing the Tour Down Under and so another name to remember.
Matthews admitted that the time trial will be vital in any strategy for overall victory, with victory and a time gap the ideal result for Tuesday.
“I think that’s everyone's plan. Once you’ve got control of this race it’s much easier because there are then short stages and a lot of intermediate sprints along the way,” Matthews said.
“This race always comes down to seconds and so everyone will need to try to take as much time in the prologue as they can. I think the way Stuart O’Grady has set it up is long enough to create some time gaps but they’ll still be quite small gaps.
“That’s our goal and we’ll see what we can do from there. I’ve done the work for it and hopefully, it’ll pay off this week.”
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
