Bettiol prevails in a wet prologue at the Tour Down Under - Live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage from the first WorldTour race day of the 2023 season at the Tour Down Under!

The first rider is already off in Adelaide!

James Moriarty, riding for the Australian national team, kicks off proceedings.

No time trial bikes here – the riders will be racing on normal road bikes here. They will, however, be allowed to race with the infamous 'puppy paws' position that has been outlawed by the UCI though.

Read more about that here...

Aero tucks and marginal gains to make a difference in Tour Down Under prologue – Rule clarification from UCI allows aero tuck position on road bikes

Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) and Patrick Bevin (Team DSM) among the early starters.

A look at the map of today's stage – some technical sections but a few places to put the power down, too.

Moriarty coming home to set the first time of the day...

He finishes with a 6:38 to lead the standings.

Arkea-Samsic man Kevin Ledanois goes four seconds quicker.

Bettiol, meanwhile, smashes that time to go quickest with 6:19.

Of course, today is the first time we'll see the new team kits of 2023 in action.

Bettiol of EF and Dries Devenyns of Soudal-QuickStep among the early runners showing off their new threads.

These are the 2023 team kits

Aussie rider Cameron Scott sets off to make his Bahrain Victorious debut.

Bettiol's 6:19 still the quickest time so far by some 12 seconds.

Leo Hayter, Chris Froome, Luke Durbridge, Caleb Ewan among the next batch of starters here.

There are some spots of rain falling out on course. Not what you might expect from the Tour Down Under!

A 6:44 for Dries Devenyns sees him go ninth quickest. Now it's time for Leo Hayter to make his WorldTour debut.

21-year-old Hayter is the U23 Giro d'Italia champion and also the British U23 time trial champion. One to watch far beyond today, that's for sure.

Chris Froome kicks off his ride in Israel-Premier Tech's bright new kit. It's the first race day outside the WorldTour for the team.

Rain on the camera lens and wet roads out on course now. This might just have a big effect on the times today as Luke Durbridge (Jayco-AlUla) tentatively rolls off.

It's only coming down heavier now as more and more riders roll down the start ramp. Not ideal at all.

Trek-Segafredo's Emils Liepins rolls home with a bent handlebar and some cuts and grazes. It looks like the Latvian is the first crash victim of the 2023 WorldTour.

A 6:43 for Leo Hayter. We're seeing times up around the seven-minute mark with the recent finishers.

Bettiol's 6:19 looks a long way away in these wet conditions...

Hayter shakes his head as he crosses the finish line. The rain is coming down hard now.

Caleb Ewan among the riders out on course at the moment. He's riding for the Australian national team here.

Bettiol was the fourth man off today and he might've played a blinder here with the rain pouring down after he finished his ride. 

Will anybody get close to that 6:19 time today?

A 7:16 for Froome at the finish line.

A 7:12 for Durbridge. He was second in the time trial at the recent Australian Nationals but looked like he wasn't taking any risks today.

The top three so far...

1 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-EasyPost 0:06:19

2 Samuel Gaze (NZl) Alpecin-Deceuninck 0:06:30

3 Hugo Page (Fra) Intermarche-Circus-Wanty 0:06:31

As the men's Tour Down Under gets underway in these awful conditions, the three-stage Women's Tour Down Under has just finished.

Check out our report on the final stage of action here

EF's new signing for 2023, Mikkel Honore, has taken a spill and it looks like Chris Hamilton of DSM has fallen on the same corner...

Sjoerd Bax's recent time of 6:50 is only the second of the last 13 under seven minutes.

Luis Leon Sanchez, winner of this race in 2005, gets underway back in Astana colours.

Now 39, he beat Lotto-Dstny DS Allan Davies and Tour Down Under race director Stuart O'Grady to win this race all those years ago.

Luis León Sánchez: at my age you're worse at some things but better at others

Time of 6:40 from Sven Erik Bystrom and Michael Gogl are the best we've seen in a while...

Only good for ninth and 10th, though.

Simon Yates, George Bennett, Mattia Cattaneo among the next batch of starters.

Sanchez sneaks in under seven minutes with a time of 6:59.

Now Simon Yates rolls down the start ramp in the new look Jayco-AlUla kit. This team is, of course, formerly known as BikeExchange-Jayco.

A 6:49 for Natnael Tesfatsion – not a bad way to kick off his time at Trek-Segafredo after making the switch from Androni Giocattoli.

Nobody has come within 20 seconds of Alberto Bettiol's time since the rain started falling.

More riders getting in under seven minutes now, though. Kim Heiduk, Timo Roosen, and Taj Jones all following Tesfatsion in getting under that time. 

A few riders heeding this road marking out on the course today in these dismal conditions...

A 6:45 for Yates as he kicks off his race. Not a bad time in the wet.

Yates the latest man to shake his head as he crosses the finish line.

Fourth overall at women’s Tour Down Under a bittersweet result for Jayco-Alula

'It’s nice to get fourth but we wanted more' Roseman-Gannon tells Cyclingnews

A time of 6:54 for George Bennett.

Australians Matthew Dinham (Groupama-FDJ) and Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Deceuncink) head off to make their pro debuts.

And now Mattia Cattaneo starts his ride.

Another crash on that same corner late on the course and it's another EF rider, American Sean Quinn.

Our 50th starter has rolled down the ramp – Andre Carvalho of Cofidis.

Yet another crash on that same late corner. It's Plowright, who slides out before getting back up swiftly.

He still crosses the line at under seven minutes, though. 6:57 for him.

And Mattia Cattaneo also puts in a decent time with a 6:49.

Bettiol's leading time saw him race around the course with a speed of 52.2kph.

Only three others have broken the 50kph barrier, and few have even managed to hit 49kph since the rain started.

Ben Swift, Jai Hindley, two-time winner Daryl Impey among the latest starters.

Hindley kicks off his race with a time of 7:03.

A shot of Sean Quinn getting back up after crashing during his run earlier on.

The rain has stopped but it's still wet out on course and times aren't really coming down.

Marc Hirschi crosses the line with a time of 6:47. That's the best ride for a while though he's only 17th quickest so far.

Geraint Thomas the next major name to start in seven minutes.

WIth the puppy paw rules not applying today, we've seen riders set off with their shifters turned in. Pello Bilbao, who has just set off, has taken it to another level, though.

His shifters are pushed inwards almost as far as possible and the Spaniard gets super-aero straight away.

Bilbao with a time of 4:53 at the checkpoint to go ninth quickest. That's the best time there in about 40 minutes.

A look at Bilbao in his aero tuck out on course. Check out those shifters!

Now Geraint Thomas starts his ride.

6:38 for Bilbao! He's eighth quickest.

That's the best time set since the rain started. The top seven times so far were set by seven of the first eight men to set off.

James Moriarty, who set off first, set a time of 6:38, fractionally slower than Bilbao.

Michael Matthews sets off.

A 7:03 for Thomas, who didn't look like he was taking massive risks today.

Meanwhile, Matthews has flown around the course. The Australian sets a time of 6:33 to go fourth fastest!!

No other major favourites out on course at the moment.

Around 50 riders left to start their runs now. Michael Storer is out on course now.

A look at Michael Matthews during his impressive ride earlier on.

Meanwhile, Storer crosses the line with a time of 7:08.

Australian road champion Luke Plapp kicks off his race.

He's out there with Jos Van Emden, Max Schachmann, and Simon Clarke at the moment.

Trek-Segafredo's second-year pro Marc Brustenga puts in a nice ride to go eighth fastest with a time of 6:37.

Michael Storer getting aero during his run.

Plapp ends up in 12th with a time of 6:39.

Riders are getting well under the seven-minute mark now with the rain having stopped and the roads slowly drying up.

Brustenga and Matthews the only riders to break into the top 10 since the rain.

Now another lull in proceedings as we wait for more big guns to take the start late on.

Marc Brustenga, who has put in one of the more impressive rides on the drying course.

Ben O'Connor sets off. Rohan Dennis and Magnus Sheffield are setting off next. 

If Dennis doesn't beat Bettiol's time then you sense nobody else will be able to.

4:50 for Dennis at the checkpoint. That's good for seventh quickest...

Jay Vine starting shortly in his new UAE Team Emirates colours.

Sheffield quicker than Dennis at the checkpoint. The American's time of 4:44 is still five seconds down on Bettiol, though.

Seventh place for Dennis as he finishes with a time of 6:36.

And Sheffield goes even quicker. He couldn't beat Bettiol either, though, and he goes second with a time of 6:27.

Australian TT champion Jay Vine is out on course now. Can he beat Bettiol?

British TT champion Ethan Hayter will be heading out soon as well...

A shot of Rohan Dennis during his run.

Vine has set a time of 4:50 at the checkpoint. Ninth quickest.

His fellow Australians Miles Scotson and Kaden Groves are setting off now.

6:33 at the finish for Vine, good for sixth place.

DSM's Marius Mayrhofer with a nice start to go sixth at the checkpoint.

A look at our leader Alberto Bettiol, who has been in the hot seat for two hours now.

The times are dropping now. Julius Johansen third at the checkpoint, Scotson seventh.

6:29 for Johansen puts him in third!

Scotson 10th at 6:35.

Johansen with a good time today on the drying roads.

Meanwhile Kaden Groves has flown around the course to put in a time of 6:30 for fourth place. It's his first race day for his new team Alpecin-Deceuninck.

Gianni Moscon is next to roll down the ramp. Ethan Hayter a few minutes later.

Still nobody is any closer to Bettiol than Sheffield at eight seconds.

Hayter sets off. He should be the last man who could beat Bettiol's time today.

At the checkpoint, Hayter puts in a time of only 4:52. 13 seconds down...

It's Bettiol's to lose now.

Shane Archbold, Corbin Strong, and Chris Harper still out on course too.

Tim van Dijke (Jumbo-Visma) crashes on that infamous late corner.

Some more spots of rain on the camera lens now. The rain maybe picking back up late on.

Bettiol still sat in that uncomfortable looking chair which he's occupied for two hours now. He's all set for the first ochre jersey of the race!

14th place for Strong and 22nd for Harper.

Alberto Bettiol has won the stage!

Here's what Bettiol had to say after his win.

"I'm really happy and I feel really lucky at the same time. I knew I could do well but not to win. The weather of Australia helped me. I really appreciate the help of all my team today. I just had to pedal full gas for six-and-a-half minutes.

"The strategy was a bit different. I asked the sporting director to start first because I think I had enough experience. In the end I won. It's a surprise and I'm really happy. There's not a lot of strategy. You have to learn the corners but sometimes you have to be lucky.

"I like this race and I'll be really proud to wear the jersey of the Tour Down Under tomorrow morning. It's a prologue and the real race starts tomorrow."

Alberto Bettiol wins a wet prologue at the Tour Down Under

Italian takes advantage of early dry roads to set an unbeatable time in Adelaide

Bettiol takes the plaudits on the podium as the first Tour Down Under stage winner in three years.

He's also in the ochre leader's jersey tonight with a nice gap to second place.

Magnus Sheffield, meanwhile, is in the best young rider's jersey.

We'll have plenty of news and reaction coming from reporters Simone Giuliani and Stephen Farrand in Australia as well a tech gallery coming up...

'I can catch her now' – Grace Brown’s women’s Tour Down Under pursuit pays off

Victory on the final stage of the Women’s WorldTour race nets FDJ Suez rider first top-tier overall win

Heavily modified road bikes take over Tour Down Under prologue

Ban on time trial bikes leads to heavily optimised road bikes for 5.5km stage

Michael Matthews 'unlucky' but on form during wet Tour Down Under opener

'If you want to try and take time out of the real climbers, this was the time to do it' Australian says after 10th place ride