It’s that time again. New bikes have been prepared, new kit has been delivered, the winter miles have been covered, and the races are calling. We all need to start getting used to different coloured jerseys and ever-complicated team names because the men’s WorldTour season is about to begin, as usual beneath the sunny skies of the Tour Down Under. The Australian race has been the season opener for the professional peloton for over two decades, offering a chance for the best riders in the world to blow away the cobwebs and get used to the adrenaline and chaos that comes with racing at the highest level.
Spanning six days from January 21 to 26, the men’s Tour Down Under offers varied and undulating parcours, with opportunities for both sprinters and punchy climbers alike. Australian riders – who have just come from their National Championships – are known to start their home event in flying form, while others will be hoping to peak later in the season, instead using the race for some intensity before bigger goals when the WorldTour comes to Europe. Saturday’s penultimate stage up the famed Willunga Hill is likely to decide the overall winner of the Tour Down Under – the category one climb has ignited numerous exciting battles in previous editions of the race.
Last year’s event was won by Israel-Premier Tech’s Stephen Williams after the British rider won the final stage to Mount Lofty in imperious fashion, eventually beating Jhonatan Narváez of Ineos Grenadiers (who will ride in the colours of UAE Team Emirates-XRG in 2025) by nine seconds on the general classification. Williams will be back with dreams of defending his title in 2025, but he’ll have the likes of Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Luke Plapp (Team Jayco Alula) and Oscar Onley (Team Picnic-PostNL) trying to stop him.
As always, there’s also a strong contingent of sprinters heading Down Under this year – the race offers three – or potentially four – opportunities for the fast men to have their shot. Sam Welsford is back for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe after winning three stages in last year’s race, though it won’t be easy for the 28-year-old to repeat his exploits in 2025. Aaron Gate of XDS Astana Team, Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) will all be hoping to open their win tallies for the year with strong leadout trains behind them.
Who will win the ochre jersey as the overall Tour Down Under champion? Who will prove themselves as the fastest man early in the season? Read on for all the information about the route, plus the contenders and our prediction for the eventual winner.
Route
While the last two years have seen a route built towards two key mountain stages for the climbing specialists in the peloton, 2025 sees the Tour Down Under return to a race that gives plenty of opportunities to the sprinters and puncheurs. Gone is the summit finish on Mount Lofty and instead the general classification contenders will likely fight it out on stages three and five, with both flat and rolling days filling the gaps in between.
Stage 1 - Prospect to Gumeracha, 150.7km
The first day of the Tour Down Under begins in Prospect and there’s a challenging route on the menu with over 2500 metres of climbing to kick things off. The stage begins with two circuits passing Gumeracha before the peloton takes on an undulating loop through towns including Lobethal, Charleston, Mount Torrens and Birdwood. The final 30 kilometres are relatively flat so it will be down to the sprint leadout trains to give their fast men the best shot – if they have survived the elevation earlier in the stage.
Stage 2 - Tanunda to Tanunda, 128.8km
Stage two is tough right from the start as the day begins with an ascent of Menglers Hill, a 2.73 kilometre climb with an average gradient of 6.9% and a maximum of 12.2%, which makes up the first KOM sprint of the day. The peloton will then tackle three laps of a hilly circuit around Tanunda, facing three climbs of Menglers Hill. The final ascent is the biggest obstacle of the day, coming over 20km from the finish. While there is a chance the sprinters can get to the front for the flat finale, this stage is also an opportunity for breakaway specialists.
Stage 3 - Norwood to Uraidla, 147.5km
2025 will see the Tour Down Under head over Knott’s Hill for the first time in what is expected to be the toughest stage in the race’s history. Stage three starts by heading straight up to Norton Summit which is a 10-kilometre climb with pitches as steep as 12.6%, Things only get harder as the stage continues as the peloton will climb Knott’s Hill twice in the final 40 kilometres. The 2.6km ascent averages around 8% but has much steeper sections meaning this is a day when we will really see who is in contention for the overall victory at the 2025 Tour Down Under.
Stage 4 - Glenelg to Victor Harbour - 157.2km
The fourth day of the Tour Down Under is the race’s longest stage and it’s one that could suit both breakaway riders and sprinters who are in good enough form to make it over the climbs. After two intermediate sprint points, the peloton will tackle two classified ascents starting with Parawa Hill (2.9km, avg. 7%, max 12.3%) and then Nettle Hill (1.9km, avg. 8.1%, max 17.7%). There’s also another small rise in the approach to the finish with 12 kilometres remaining which could cause problems for the fast men.
Stage 5 - McLaren Vale to Willunga HIll - 145.7km
On stage five the famed Willunga Hill returns to the Tour Down Under. This is going to be a crucial day for riders targeting the general classification, with two ascents of the tricky climb in the last 25km. Things start off on Wickham Hill in the opening of the stage, a three-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 6.9% and a maximum of 11.1%. There’s then a quiet middle 80 kilometres before a double climb of Willunga where the winner of the 2025 Tour Down Under is likely to be decided.
Stage 6 - Adelaide to Adelaide - 90km
Celebrating the race’s 25th anniversary, the final stage will be a celebration of cycling in Adelaide with a flat and fast ending for the sprinters. There’s only one categorised climb on the 90-kilometre route which shouldn’t cause any splits in the peloton, so the glory is almost certain to be taken by the quickest man in this year’s Tour Down Under.
Contenders
Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech)
Israel-Premier Tech come to the Tour Down Under with defending champion Stephen Williams. The Welshman rode an impressive race in 2024, taking the leader’s jersey on stage five after finishing in second place and securing it with a special victory atop Willunga Hill on the final day. Williams backed up his strong start to the season with wins last year in both the Tour of Britain and La Flèche Wallonne, proving himself as one of the best puncheurs in the current WorldTour peloton. In 2025, Williams will have a strong team around him in Australia once again with the likes of George Bennett, Nick Schultz, Mike Woods, Simon Clarke and Corbin Strong, all experienced climbers who know the roads of the Tour Down Under well. It’s clear by their roster that Israel-Premier Tech are taking this early season race seriously and they have plenty of other options if Williams isn’t in the same form as he was last year.
Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL)
British rider Oscar Onley had one of his breakthrough victories at the Tour Down Under last year when he won atop Mount Lofty, out-climbing some experienced and respected WorldTour riders to announce himself as a key contender for the overall victory. The 22-year-old is more of a pure climber who enjoys longer ascents, so he may not be as suited to 2025’s punchy route – he couldn’t hold on to the race lead on Willunga Hill last year – but Onley will be motivated to get another WorldTour win in order to get his season off to a strong start. Team Picnic-PostNL have mixed ambitions at the Tour Down Under with a squad who could contest sprint stages with the likes of Alex Edmondson and aim for breakaway wins. On paper, the Dutch team don’t look to have as strong of a climbing line-up as the likes of Israel-Premier Tech or UAE Team Emirates-XRG, so they will need to remain vigilant to stay in contention for GC victory.
Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Last year when riding as part of Ineos Grenadiers, Jhonatan Narváez came close to victory at the Tour Down Under, eventually missing the win by just nine seconds. This year’s route should suit the Ecuadorian puncheur more as it features the steep, rolling climbs that Narváez is known to thrive on. Now a member of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Narváez will be motivated to get off to a positive start with his new team and his 2024 season will have given him confidence – the 27-year-old won a stage of the Giro d’Italia, wore the pink jersey and became national champion. The only thing that could get in the way of success Down Under in 2025 for Narváez is that his new team will come to the race with a range of impressive climbing talent, so he will have to fight hard to get his chance to go for the win. It may be that the road decides who UAE Team Emirates-XRG chooses as their team leader, or it could be that Narváez is in a support role in 2025.
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Australian rider Jay Vine will have positive memories at the Tour Down Under – he won his home event in 2023 and it remains his only WorldTour stage race victory. He didn’t compete last year, but will be back to try and get another ochre jersey in 2025. Vine had a turbulent season in 2024, crashing seriously at Itzulia Basque Country and missing over three months of racing. On his return, the 29-year-old raced a solid Vuelta a España, winning the KOM competition and he also secured a stage win in the time trial at the Vuelta a Burgos. With a solid winter of training, Vine could come into the Tour Down Under in good form, but without any long climbs the parcours aren’t particularly suited to his strengths. With this in mind, he may be a domestique for Narváez if things aren’t going his way.
Luke Plapp (Team Jayco-Alula)
The Tour Down Under is always a big target for Australia's only WorldTour squad, Team Jayco-Alula. Luke Plapp is likely the team’s best chance of overall victory at the race in 2025 – he is well-suited to the parcours and often is in good form early in the season. His recent second place at the Australian National Championships – where he helped his teammate Luke Durbridge to a popular victory – is proof of this. Plapp crashed out of the Tour Down Under last year but bounced back to have a strong season opener with a top-10 finish at Paris-Nice and went on to show promise during stages of the Giro d’Italia. Plapp will be supported by experienced riders such as Luke Durbridge and Chris Harper Down Under this year, alongside promising Swiss climber Mauro Schmid. Having new-signing Schmid as part of Jayco-Alula in 2025 will somewhat take the pressure off Plapp being the team’s sole GC hopeful, but it also means that the Australian rider will need to prove he deserves to be team leader when things get tough at the Tour Down Under.
Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
With a new team for 2025 in Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Kiwi climbing talent Finn Fisher-Black is one to watch at the Tour Down Under this year. The 23-year-old suffered from illness during last year’s race, but he performed well in 2024 when he won the Muscat Classic and finished in third place at both the Alula Tour and the Tour of Oman. Fisher-Black was largely in a support role as part of UAE Team Emirates later in the season but still managed to get some good results with a third-place finish at the Vuelta a Burgos overall. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe do come to the Tour Down Under with big sprinting ambitions and the majority of their team is focused on helping Sam Welsford to victories in the flat stages, but this could help take the pressure off Fisher-Black who finished in 10th place on the stage to Willunga Hill in last year’s race. If Fisher-Black is at his best, he will be one to watch on both stage three and the penultimate stage of the race when the roads really start to kick up.
Other contenders
It is always a bit of a lottery at the first WorldTour race of the year as riders are in different preparation stages for the season – those from Australia and New Zealand tend to be in stronger form as they come from a summer of road racing in the Southern Hemisphere. Among them is Corbin Strong of Israel-Premier Tech who shouldn’t be forgotten at the Tour Down Under, the 24-year-old had a breakthrough season in 2024 with a win at the Giro del Veneto and he is well suited to undulating parcours and short steep climbs. Former Tour of Flanders winner Alberto Bettiol is a similar type of rider and he starts the Tour Down Under for his new team, XDS Astana, so will be wanting to make a good first impression. Magnus Sheffield is also a good option in this race for the Ineos Grenadiers, the American rider has been known to perform well in shorter stage races. Ion Izagirre could go well for Cofidis if his training has been solid this winter, similarly young French rider Paul Lapeira is someone to keep an eye on for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team.
Prediction
We think that Stephen Williams has a good chance of defending his title at the 2025 Tour Down Under. If he isn’t in his strongest form, however, we still believe the victory will go to an Israel-Premier Tech rider – they have an incredibly strong line-up with a plethora of options when it comes to team leaders.
