January 23, 2026
There are no free lunches in this Santos Tour Down Under. If the sprinters want to be there at the finish, they are going to have to work for it. The first 10KM out of Henley Beach are pretty hard with two back to back uncategorized climbs that are each around 2KM at 6%. The first categorized climb starts after 29KM with Wickham Hill, a 3KM climb at 7%. The next 45KM are constantly rolling, through the intermediate sprint in Meadows and down to Strathalbyn. Once in Strathalbyn, the road turns North and slowly rises up to Echunga for the second intermediate sprint with 41KM to go. Passed the 1KM, 4.3% climb of Mount Barker, the riders will go through the finish line for the first time and hear the bell for one 20KM lap. The entire day is rolling but the sprinters have shown good form so far so we are likely to see the second bunch sprint in Nairne.
Race Summary
Familiar faces were present at the front of the peloton when the flagged dropped. Enzo Paleni of Groupama-FDj United was the first attacker and he was joined by Baptiste Veistroffer of Lotto Intermarché and KOM Leader Martin Urianstad Bugge of Uno-X Mobility. The trio built the gap quite quickly up to 2 minutes when Ineos and Visma-Lease a Bike started to ride in the peloton. Urianstad Bugge added to his KOM lead at the top of Wickham Hill and, as he crossed the summit, the break still had 2 minutes 10 seconds on the peloton. Decathlon CMA CGM added Antoine L'Hote to the chase along with Tim Rex of Visma-Lease a Bike and Lucas Hamilton of Ineos. The gap got as close as 1 minute 15 seconds but was mostly held at 1 minute 40 seconds.
Out of Strathalbyn towards Echunga, the road went up in steps and, with the increased temperature pushing over 30C (87F), the breakaway started to lose horsepower. Veistroffer was visibly struggling but was still pulling turns and doing his fair share. In Echunga, Veistroffer took maximum points but the sprint was uncontested. Behind, the first action of the day was kicking off in the peloton. Jayco AlUla sent a little attack along with an Australian Nation Team member but it was quickly shut down by Ineos, Visma-Lease a Bike, and UAE-XRG. The flurry of moves brought the gap down to just 20 seconds with 39KM to go but the attacks continued. Patrick Eddy of the Australian National Team was a driving force along with Chris Hamilton of Picnic-PostNL but Visma-Lease a Bike regained control and brought calm back into the bunch.
The break must have been holding a bit in reserve because on the approach to Mount Barker with 27KM to go, the gap grew out to 1 minute. Urianstad Bugge took five points at the top of Mount Barker and, with 23KM to go, the gap was out to 1 minute 20 seconds. The gap held steady as the break rode through the finish line in Nairne with 20KM to go. Urianstad Bugge gave one last big pull and bid farewell to his companions Paleini and Veistroffer.
With 16KM to go, the peloton swelled across the road as teams got in color order and started drag racing for position. Veistroffer popped on a dragging uphill with 13KM remaining leaving Paleni off the front on his own. Veistroffer gutted out more power and made his way back to Paleni with 7.5KM to go and still 45 seconds ahead of the peloton. The bunch seemed content to sit across the road with their lead outs intact just waiting but kilometers were quickly ticking by.
Veistroffer cracked for good with 3.5KM to go on a false flat drag which nearly put an end to Paleni as well who just 15 seconds ahead of the peloton. Visma-Lease a Bike, EF-Education EasyPost, and Soudal Quickstep were positioned well under 1KM to go as Paleni was brought back. NSN Cycling, Decathlon CMA CGM, and Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe came to challenge and brought their sprinters to the lead as they swung around into the finishing straight with 400M to go. It was Ineos however who got a good run from behind and delivered Sam Welsford perfectly with just 150M to go. Welsford opened up and had more than a bike length as he crossed the line for the second win for Ineos this week. Tobias Lund Andresen of Decathlon CMA CGM followed the slipstream into second, just beating Lewis Bower of Groupama-FDJ United into third on the stage.
There were no changes in GC heading into the main GC stage with a finish on Willunga Hill.