January 24, 2026
Unfortunately for the race, extreme heat and fire risk have forced the organizers to completely change the course for today's race. A heat dome has landed over South Australia and temperatures are nearing 40C (104F) making it unsafe to complete the race as originally planned. The race still starts in Brighton which means we'll still get the passage of Chandlers Hill, a 2.7KM climb at 6.7%. After 40KM of racing, the riders will enter the circuit in Willunga but will not go up the hill. Instead, they complete two full laps of a circuit which contains a sprint in Aldinga Beach, a trip through McLaren Vale, and a rise of 1KM at an average of 3% up to the finish in the center of town. The sprinters will feel fortunate to get another crack at a win in a stage that will likely result in another bunch sprint.
Race Summary
The attacks came from the start on an uncategorized climb out of Brighton. Over the top, three riders got away including Luke Plapp of Jayco AlUla, Matthew Greenwood of the Australian National Team, and Rémi Cavagna of Groupama-FDJ United. The bunch was not settled and riders were scrambling in the back. An unseen traffic island caused second overall Jhonatan Narváez of UAE-XRG to crash. He hit the ground hard and was not able to continue in the race. The three leaders built their gap to 50 seconds by the top of Chandlers Hill but riders at the front of the peloton were keen to hold their position for the descent and the approach to exposed roads and the risk of wind.
All of the nerves settled and the gap grew out to 3 minutes 30 seconds with 87KM to go. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe were the first team to go to the front with any real momentum. NSN Cycling also got involved as the road opened up through the vineyards of McLaren Vale but the wind was not blowing hard enough to cause any damage on this lap. On the rise to the line coming into Willunga, a crash in the peloton brought a number of riders down and split the bunch. Most of the Tudor Pro Cycling team were caught out and Danny van Poppel and Vegard Stake Laengen were forced to abandon. All of the activity had the gap cut by a full minute as Ineos and Decathlon CMA CGM pushed on at the front. The pace ramped up to warp speed on the downhill road leaving Willunga towards Aldinga Beach. Again, the wind was not strong enough and the bunch eased off. The majority of distanced riders were able to return with 72KM to go.
Plapp rolled through the intermediate sprint in Aldinga Beach take 3 bonus seconds but they were not material because he started the day 1 minute 57 seconds down. Behind, Visma-Lease a Bike took control of the peloton as we have seen previous days and the gap stabilized around 2 minutes 30 seconds. With 49KM to go, Cavagna capitulated to the heat and dropped back to the peloton, leaving just Plapp and Greenwood to fend off the bunch. There was a major acceleration through Willunga and by the time the main group was halfway back to Aldinga Beach, they had Plapp and Greenwood within 15 seconds.
Plapp led on to the coast road 2KM from the intermediate sprint at Aldinga Beach. Behind, Soudal Quickstep were in lead out formation because bonus seconds would be up for grabs for their rider, Andrea Raccagni, to potentially move up to take ownership of the Best Young Rider's White jersey. The catch was made 400M from the sprint point and Raccagni delivered by winning the sprint and taking 3 bonus seconds and the White jersey. Mauro Schmid of Jayco AlUla took second with Alastair MacKellar of EF-Education EasyPost behind in third.
The last bottles and ice were taken at 13KM to go and riders started to switch on for the finale. The peloton was like a beehive under 4KM to go. NSN Cycling were holding the left side of the road with Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe rushing up on the right. Even with dead straight roads, trains were a mess and it was a mad scramble for the sprinters to find their teammates. Visma-Lease a Bike were driving on the front with Uno-X Mobility and Ineos queued up behind at 1,500M. Ineos took over under 1KM but Decathlon CMA CGM had riders sitting patiently in the second tier. The French squad hit out with three riders in front of Tobias Lund Andresen at 700M and had full control. The bunch were in single file at 300M but before Lund Andresen could get around his own teammates, he got swarmed by Sam Watson of Ineos and Ethan Vernon of NSN Cycling. Vernon had the stronger punch. He hit fresh air at 100M and never looked back, taking the first victory for NSN Cycling in dominant fashion. Lund Andresen managed to weed through the traffic to take second with the Kiwi, Laurence Pithie of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, behind in third.
With Narváez out of the race, Mauro Schmid moves to second overall at 1 minute 3 seconds and Harry Sweeny up to third, a further 9 seconds adrift.