As it happened: Australian sprinter fastest in chaotic finish to win stage 3 at Tour Down Under
Peloton tackles Wickham Hill and Mount Barker in a 140.8km hilly race from Henley Beach to Nairne
Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 3, from Henley Beach to Nairne, of the Tour Down Under. The stage starts at 11:10 am local time and finishes roughly four hours later.
Stage 2 winner Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) leads the general classification with six seconds on his teammate Jhonatan Narváez. Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) sits in third place, 1:05 down.
Henley Beach is hosting a stage start for the first time, welcoming the riders as they face a day largely spent in the Adelaide Hills. This 140-kilometre stage 3 is set to head south to Flagstaff Hill and Coromandel Valley before visiting Adelaide Hills communities. Climbers will step it up on the steep slopes of Wickham Hill at McLaren Flat and Mount Barker’s Summit Road, with a sprint in Echunga before a 19-kilometre loop leading to a final showdown in Nairne.
Here’s what race director Stuart O’Grady said about stage 3: “I’m really excited about this stage, with two locations that are first-time hosts: Henley Beach and Nairne. From a racing point of view, a lot of the roads are uncharted territory and might look straightforward, but there are enough climbs and opportunities – even coming through Mount Barker a well-timed attack could upset the sprinters.”
It’s going to be a hot one today in South Australia. Currently 29°C and sunny, and fairly cool by Adelaide summer standards, but the forecast is 32 °C by the time they finish in Nairne.
Current conditions at the start in Henley Beach are, according to CN's reporter on the ground, Simone Giuliani, as follows:
Racers are now riding through the 15.1 km-long neutral zone; it should take about 30 minutes before the flag drops.
The field is down to 137 riders. Jonas Rutsch (Lotto-Intermarché) was involved in a crash yesterday, and will not be starting today.
🇦🇺 #TourDownUnderSpeedy recovery! 🍀 pic.twitter.com/VfaeMiE0DUJanuary 22, 2026
Very relaxed mood - so far - in the peloton during the long neutral section.
As the field is rolling through the neutral section, Cyclingnews took a closer look at stage 3:
“The third stage from Henley Beach to Nairne is no holiday beach trip. The Wickham Hill climb is three kilometres long and averages 7%, but kicks up to 11% in places and rises 207 metres. It comes only 32.2km into the stage, so perhaps not one for the GC contenders to attack on. The ascent at Mount Barker after 115 kilometres is short but tough, and possibly not enough to dislodge the sprinters if they're still around.”
Let’s hear what race leader Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) told Seven this morning at the start in Henley Breach.
“It's really nice to wear this jersey after not having it for three years. And it's really nice to gotta pin the numbers on today.”
About managing the heat and stage 3: “Obviously, nutrition is really important, but it's also we're here to take the race in the final day. So got to keep on top of any dangerous breakaways that go ahead. And hopefully, it's a relatively easy day with the sprinters wanting to have a sprint at the end.”
About winning in front of his wife and son: “I’ve been lucky to win in front of them before, but to do it in Australia as well. And my son's obviously growing and learning more and more and recognising me more and more from the TV as well, so it's pretty special. And I just love having him here and coming to the bus before the start and into the hotel room before the race even. It's really nice.”
Three VIsma-Lease a Bike riders sitting behind the race car as they meander their way towards kilometre 0. The team will be all in for their sprinter Matthew Brennan today.
And of course, KOM leader Martin Urianstad (Uno-X Mobility) is also close to the car. After all, he's been in the break in stage 1 and stage 2. Will he go again today?
Riders including Luke Plapp, have started to swarm the race lead car,
Flag drop by race director Stuart O’Grady, and we are racing!
And an immediate attack from Groupama and a Lotto rider gets on his wheel.
Urianstad jumps away on this opening kick to make it up to the riders up the road.
Urianstad gets across to Enzo Paleni and Baptiste Veistroffer. Trio has 22 seconds with less after 1 kilometre of racing.
Veistroffer dropped his chain, and with some help from a breakaway rider, he fixes it and keeps on going.
Paleni and Urianstad discussed how the three riders in the break can work together to stay away from the peloton. They talked about how to divvy the sprint and KOM points available today.
One of the favourites to win today’s stage is Sam Welsford (Ineos Grenadiers), and the team scouted the new Nairne finish as part of their race strategy.
"It's a new course so when it's a new course, no one knows how it's going to be won. Everyone's got a theory how to win it. But yeah, I mean, we've done it twice. I've done it once with Sam by himself, and I've done it once with the whole group, so we've got a pretty good idea of what we want to do today,” Ineos Grenadiers sports director Daryl Impey told Cyclingnews before the stage start.
“Yeah, it's challenging, the hill is challenging, but I think the depth of the field here is so good I can't see anyone sneaking away. I'm sure there will be teams trying to put guys like Sam [Welsford] on the limit but I think hopefully we should have all bases covered. If it's not for Sam Welsford, then we've got Sam Watson. So we're pretty happy with both options."
Still lots of discussion between the three riders in the break. The three riders now have 2:02 on the peloton with one rider each of the sprinters team: Ineos, Visma and Decathlon are setting the pace.
Looking at the break, Paleni is the highest placed on GC, at 2:28 down. Veistroffer is 4:24 back and Urianstad is 11:14 back.
Today is the second and final stage that can come down to a sprint, so the sprinters' teams of Ineos, for Welsford, Visma for Brennan and Decathlon for stage 1 winner Tobias Lund Andresen - came to the front early to keep the break on a tight leash.
Veistroffer did some heat training before heading to Australia.
Under the impetus of Decathlon's Antoine L'Hote, the gap to the break is now 1:52 as we race towards the first KOM of the day, the cat 1. Wickham Hill.
Not the first breakaway, of course, for Paleni, who made it into the break on stage 1 that was reeled in. But the 23-year-old Frenchman did take 4th on stage 5 at the 2024 Giro d’Italia where the break made it to the finish line.
Ineos rotates to the front of the peloton, as the break sees 2km to the first KOM of the day.
Veistroffer is setting the pace on the climb, followed by Paleni and then Urianstad.
Urianstad goes to the front with 500metres to the top. Veistroffer on his wheel, and then Paleni.
Urianstad takes the 10 points, and simply rolls across the line. Veistroffer is second and Paleni third.
The peloton slows down slightly on the climb to look after their sprinters; the gap goes up slightly to 2:09.
Ineos' Lucas Hamilton leads the peloton across the top of Wickham Hill.
Visma's Tim Rex is back at the front of the peloton, just like he did on stage 1,
100km to go
Break of three: Marian Urianstad (Uno-X Mobility), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ United) have 2:04 on the field.
Lucas Hamilton setting the pace at the front of the pack
Veistroffer has some trouble with the pace when the road went up for the KOM, but now he is back at the front of the break, thundering along but the peloton is keeping them very close.
The peloton is now single-filed, the pressure has increased and the gap has dropped to 1:22 with 91km to go,
Kangaroos are keeping cool in the shade under the trees.
With a gap under 1 minute, the break sees 2.5 to the first intermediate sprint in Meadows.
Correction, gap is holding around the 1-minute mark.
Urianstad is leading the break with 1km to the sprint.
Veistroffer moves across the road and to the front to take the points uncontested.
Hot day out there. Veistroffer goes to his team to get an ice sock, and he shares more socks with his breakaway companions.
Sprint #1 result:
1- Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché),
The three riders doing the pacemaking at the front of the peloton are still Lucas Hamilton for Ineos, Tim Rex for Visma and Antoine L'Hote for Decathlon.
One rider staying safe in the peloton is newly crowned Australian champion Patrick Eddy, racing for the ARA Australian national team. On stage 1, he was part of the leadout for the team's sprinter Liam Walsh.
In the peloton, riders are going back to their team cars to grab musettes and water bottles while the break is getting support from the neutral car.
While the big three sprinters' teams are expending energy at the front of the peloton, other teams with sprinters are staying in the pack and getting a free ride. They include Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe for Danny Van Poppel, NSN for Ethan Vernon, Picnic PostNL for Casper van Uden, Lidl-Trek for Tim Tom Teutenberg, EF Education-Easypost for Luke Lamperti, Soudal-Quickstep for Alberto Dainese, and Autralian National Team Liam Walsh. And of course, the team of race leader Jay Vine, UAE Team Emirates-XRG for Sebastian Molano.
With 60km to go, the break of 3 has a lead of 1:35 with Veistroffer starting to show the strain. The three have been off the front for around 80 kilometres.
Riders are dousing their heads with water as temperatures climb toward 30 °C. It's a hot summer day in South Australia.
The bunch is relaxed as they go through the feedzone and grab musettes.
Kangaroos!
🦘You know you're in Australia when...📺 Stream the race now on 7plus: https://t.co/k2Exq3GblTZiptrak | @santosltd #TourDownUnder | #couchpeloton pic.twitter.com/dDBNhE1nfLJanuary 23, 2026
Though Veistroffer unclipped to shake off possible cramps, he is still fighting in the break while Urianstad keeps a metronome pace. The two, along with Paleni, have been working well but the field is feathering the gap, holding them close before they bring them back for the bunch sprint.
The break is under 1km to the second intermediate sprint in Echunga. In the last one, Veistroffer crossed the line first with the others simply rolling through.
Veistroffer rolls across the line first, followed by Paleni and Urianstad for the second intermediate sprint, in the exact same order as the first.
Small fractures in the peloton, that move caught a few teams off guard, but it's all back together.
Jayco's Luke Durbridge goes again, and Visma reacts and shuts it down.
Australian road champion Patrick Eddy is the next man to go. Riders from Ineos and Picnic go with him.
Buitrago comes across and goes straight to the front.
Eddy is pushing, tucked down as low as the rules let him. More riders trying to jump across from the peloton.
Eddy looks across his shoulder while Buitrago continues on.
The three riders in the break are desperate to stay away, and pushing the pace too.
Peloton swallows the last man to attack, Robert Stannard. Visma rider goes back to the front with Ineos on his wheel.
One big question today is how the hot conditions, combined with the hilly terrain and 2,407 metres of elevation gain, will impact the sprinters—especially with the Category 3 Mount Barker Summit cresting with 24km to go.
Stage 1, which ended in a bunch sprint, “only” had 1,541 metres over 120.6km.
The three riders have played it well so far, upping the pace when the attacks were flying, and now have 54 seconds with 30km to go.
Other teams are now moving to the front with around 5km to the top of Mount Barker, a 1.1km climb with max gradient of 8.9% and average gradient of 6.9%.
Groupama's Titouan Fontaine attacks the field, even though he has a teammate in the break and gets no reaction.
Urianstad takes the front of the break with 200 metres to go, and rolls through the line to collect an additional 5 points, followed by Veistroffer and Paleni.
Fontaine is reeled in back in by the peloton, as the gap is 1:12 to the break with24km to go,
Urianstad now leads the KOM classification with 41 points, he picked up 14 points today.
Teams organise in the field. Visma on the right side of the road. UAE on the opposite side. Ineos and Decathlon in the middle.
For the first time, Urianstad is started to show the pressure, had to close a small gap to the other two in the break. The trio has 1:25 on the field.
Break enters the finishing straight for the first time, and sees the finish line, They have 1:18 with 20km to go.
Peloton swings into the circuit, and goes up the slight rise and can assess the approach to the finish line for the first time.
No team now is taking the responsibility to really push forward.
Visma is still lined up on the right-hand side while Decathlon is on the other side. More teams jostling for position.
After spending most of the day at the front, Tim Rex pulls off.
Welsford moves to Brennan's wheel, as the duo up the road have 1:05 inside of 15km to go.
Bunch is still spread across the road, still tightly packed.
Veistroffer is dropped leaving Paleni, who started the break, continues on solo inside of 13km to go with a gap of 49 seconds.
Uno-X comes to the pointy end with Ineos, Decathlon and Visma.
Paleni is all in, with a gap of 47 seconds with 10km to go.
Whoa. Veistroffer did not give up, and is chasing, a few metres behind. That's got to hurt.
Veistroffer connects with Paleni with 7.5km to go, and a gap of 36 seconds,
Peloton is still spread across the road, strange chase by the field. Teams represented at the front but so far, no one has upped the pace to take control.
Veistroffer and Paleni have 43 seconds with 5km to go.
Edge of seat finale. Veistroffer and Paleni have 37 seconds with 3.5km to go.
Veistroffer cracks again on a small kicker and Paleni - again - continues on solo.
Gap is tumbling down on small kicker, as NSN comes to the front.
Paleni has 10 seconds with 2km to go.
Sprint trains are very disorganised at the front. NSN swarming up.
EF Education goes the front as Paleni gets caught.
Decathlon leadout goes first, but Ineos comes around and Sam Welsford wins for his seventh Tour Down Under stage victory.
Sam Watson pulled Welsford in the final hundred metres to launch the Australian to victory
stage 1 winner Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) took second and Lewis Bower (Groupama-FDJ United) was third in chaotic finish in Nairne.
Seems that there was a crash in the final kilometres, which caused a split in the peloton with race leader Jay Vine maybe caught behind. It is unclear where this happened and the impact on GC.
There was a crash in the final straight to the line. Liam Walsh (ARA Australia) went down.
Official GC results still have Vine on top, as the crash happened in the final 3 kilometres.
Results powered by FirstCycling
Let’s hear from stage 3 winner Sam Welsford (Ineos Grenadiers)
“I’m so lost for words there. That was so hard. We were in so much trouble in the back. We got swamped, and then on that last climb, I was on my absolute limit. I just had [Ben Swift] with me the whole time, and he was just like, be patient, we’ll get there. And to have those guys believe in me so much after such a hard year last year, to win here and the day that doesn't really suit me, I’m over the moon.”
“I really want us to set up the year well with a new team. And like I said, the team really believed in me. They really see what I can do, and for me to get that belief back,after I probably lost to myself has been really nice, and I think he has just shows what we can do together as a team.”
About his role in the next two stages: “The next two days are probably some of the hardest stages of the tour. So for me, you know, I'm just doing whatever I can, getting bottles, bringing them to the front, lead them into the climbs, paying them back for the work they did today. And, I can't thank my team enough today. You know, the Ineos boys were hats off. Just so good today, right in the front the whole day. And just when they even started attacking us we were riding, they're just still committed. And I was probably on my deathbed, the last 2k, and they just never stopped believing in me. So yeah, this win is for them.”
No changes to the top of the GC leaderboard. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) retained the ochre jersey with six seconds on his teammate, the defending champion Jhonatan Narváez. Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) is in third, 1:05 down, and Harry Sweeny (EF Education-Easypost) is fourth, a further seven seconds back.
Let’s hear from race leader Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
“It was stay out of trouble as much as possible. And, the last 50k was more stressful than it probably needed to be. It ended in a bunch sprint. I think regardless if we'd rolled in or if we raced the last 50k like we did, so yes, stayed out of trouble, kept it upright and avoided the crash at the finish, which was nice."
About the three ascents up Willunga on stage 4: “The three times probably doesn’t change the result, but I think it's the longest stage of the race. We've got a lot of climbing involved. And it's always tricky along the coast. Crosswinds, and the gusts as well. So we get to do some we get to do some racing and some positioning before we even go up the climb. And then, the two ascents right at the end is where the business happens.”
Our race report, results, and photos can all be found here: Sam Welsford sprints to seventh Tour Down Under stage victory on stage 3
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