{"id":423865,"date":"2026-01-19T19:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T19:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/423865\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T19:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T19:39:09","slug":"tour-down-under-2026-start-times-order-prologue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/423865\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour Down Under 2026 – Start Times & Order Prologue"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 WorldTour season officially raises the curtain on Tuesday, February 20th in Australia with the Tour Down Under<\/a> prologue. As is tradition, the race opens the top-tier calendar with an individual time trial that will set the first gaps in the general classification and award the first ochre leader\u2019s jersey. Adelaide again provides the stage for a short, explosive day with strong symbolic weight.<\/p>\n

The prologue is virtually flat, starting and finishing in Adelaide itself over 3.6 kilometres. It\u2019s a course built for powerful rouleurs and short-effort specialists, where every second will matter and there will be no room for error. While the gaps won\u2019t be large, they can shape the early race dynamics and influence the following stages.<\/p>\n

Michael Gogl of Alpecin-Premier Tech will be first off the ramp at 08:00 CET. Riders will then start at one-minute intervals in a prologue expected to run a little over two hours. The last rider to roll down the start ramp will be Jay Vine<\/a> of UAE Team Emirates – XRG, who closes the session at 10:19 CET.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Australian lines up as the leading favourite to pull on the first ochre jersey, a clear bet from his team even though last year\u2019s winner was Jhonat\u00e1n Narv\u00e1ez, then also riding for UAE.<\/p>\n

Among the names to watch is Adam Yates, off at 08:59 CET, also in the colours of UAE Team Emirates – XRG. The Briton will aim to limit losses in an effort that doesn\u2019t fully suit his profile, but could prove decisive for the GC.<\/p>\n

Ivo Oliveira, another key man for the Emirati squad, starts at 09:59 CET, while Ben O\u2019Connor, one of Australia\u2019s prime GC cards, goes at 08:54 CET for the Team Jayco AlUla<\/a>.\"Jay<\/p>\n

Jay Vine, Australian national champion, favourite at the Tour Down Under<\/p>\n

TDU prologue start times and start order Order Time (CET) Name Team 1 08:00 GOGL Michael Alpecin-Premier Tech 2 08:01 VAN UDEN Casper Team Picnic PostNL 3 08:02 BRENNER Marco Tudor Pro Cycling Team 4 08:03 STEVENSON Lucas Australia 5 08:04 LEONARD Michael EF Education – EasyPost 6 08:05 VAN EETVELT Lennert Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 7 08:06 URIANSTAD BUGGE Martin Uno-X Mobility 8 08:07 EENKHOORN Pascal Soudal Quick-Step 9 08:08 PITHIE Laurence Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 10 08:09 DONNENWIRTH Tom Groupama – FDJ United 11 08:10 WATSON Samuel INEOS Grenadiers 12 08:11 MOSCA Jacopo Lidl – Trek 13 08:12 STANNARD Robert Bahrain – Victorious 14 08:13 NOV\u00c1K Pavel Movistar Team 15 08:14 DURBRIDGE Luke Team Jayco AlUla 16 08:15 ANDRESEN Tobias Lund Decathlon CMA CGM Team 17 08:16 VERNON Ethan NSN Cycling Team 18 08:17 KAJAMINI Florian Samuel XDS Astana Team 19 08:18 BRENNAN Matthew Team Visma | Lease a Bike 20 08:19 MOLANO Juan Sebasti\u00e1n UAE Team Emirates – XRG 21 08:20 BUSATTO Francesco Alpecin-Premier Tech 22 08:21 HAMILTON Chris Team Picnic PostNL 23 08:22 WIRTGEN Luc Tudor Pro Cycling Team 24 08:23 HOWSON Damien Australia 25 08:24 WALKER Max EF Education – EasyPost 26 08:25 ZIMMERMANN Georg Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 27 08:26 INGEBRIGTSEN Storm Uno-X Mobility 28 08:27 PEDERSEN Casper Soudal Quick-Step 29 08:28 FISHER-BLACK Finn Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 30 08:29 BOWER Lewis Groupama – FDJ United 31 08:30 KWIATKOWSKI Micha\u0142 INEOS Grenadiers 32 08:31 OOMEN Sam Lidl – Trek 33 08:32 MIHOLJEVI\u0106 Fran Bahrain – Victorious 34 08:33 TESFATSION Natnael Movistar Team 35 08:34 MCKENZIE Hamish Team Jayco AlUla 36 08:35 SCOTSON Callum Decathlon CMA CGM Team 37 08:36 STRONG Corbin NSN Cycling Team 38 08:37 SCHRETTL Marco XDS Astana Team 39 08:38 SCHIFFER Anton Team Visma | Lease a Bike 40 08:39 LAENGEN Vegard Stake UAE Team Emirates – XRG 41 08:40 MARSMAN Tim Alpecin-Premier Tech 42 08:41 PEACE Oliver Team Picnic PostNL 43 08:42 KELEMEN Petr Tudor Pro Cycling Team 44 08:43 GREENWOOD Matthew Australia 45 08:44 MACKELLAR Alastair EF Education – EasyPost 46 08:45 RUTSCH Jonas Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 47 08:46 FREDHEIM Stian Uno-X Mobility 48 08:47 ZANA Filippo Soudal Quick-Step 49 08:48 VAN POPPEL Danny Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 50 08:49 PALENI Enzo Groupama – FDJ United 51 08:50 WELSFORD Sam INEOS Grenadiers 52 08:51 BAGIOLI Andrea Lidl – Trek 53 08:52 STOCKWELL Oliver Bahrain – Victorious 54 08:53 SERRANO Gonzalo Movistar Team 55 08:54 O’CONNOR Ben Team Jayco AlUla 56 08:55 GUDMESTAD Tord Decathlon CMA CGM Team 57 08:56 GILMORE Brady NSN Cycling Team 58 08:57 TONEATTI Davide XDS Astana Team 59 08:58 HUISING Menno Team Visma | Lease a Bike 60 08:59 YATES Adam UAE Team Emirates – XRG 61 09:00 SENTJENS Sente Alpecin-Premier Tech 62 09:01 DINHAM Matthew Team Picnic PostNL 63 09:02 MAYRHOFER Marius Tudor Pro Cycling Team 64 09:03 EDDY Patrick Australia 65 09:04 CEPEDA Jefferson Alexander EF Education – EasyPost 66 09:05 TAMINIAUX Lionel Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 67 09:06 SKAARSETH Anders Uno-X Mobility 68 09:07 DAINESE Alberto Soudal Quick-Step 69 09:08 DRIZNERS Jarrad Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 70 09:09 FONTAINE Titouan Groupama – FDJ United 71 09:10 SVESTAD-B\u00c5RDSENG Embret INEOS Grenadiers 72 09:11 SOBRERO Matteo Lidl – Trek 73 09:12 VAN DER MEULEN Max Bahrain – Victorious 74 09:13 CEPEDA Jefferson Alveiro Movistar Team 75 09:14 O’BRIEN Kelland Team Jayco AlUla 76 09:15 L’HOTE Antoine Decathlon CMA CGM Team 77 09:16 SCHULTZ Nick NSN Cycling Team 78 09:17 VAN BEKKUM Darren XDS Astana Team 79 09:18 HAGENES Per Strand Team Visma | Lease a Bike 80 09:19 BJERG Mikkel UAE Team Emirates – XRG 81 09:20 GLIVAR Gal Alpecin-Premier Tech 82 09:21 KNOX James Team Picnic PostNL 83 09:22 SUTER Joel Tudor Pro Cycling Team 84 09:23 WALSH Liam Australia 85 09:24 LAMPERTI Luke EF Education – EasyPost 86 09:25 VEISTROFFER Baptiste Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 87 09:26 RESELL Erik Nords\u00e6ter Uno-X Mobility 88 09:27 REINDERINK Pepijn Soudal Quick-Step 89 09:28 THORNLEY Callum Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 90 09:29 GENIETS Kevin Groupama – FDJ United 91 09:30 HAIG Jack INEOS Grenadiers 92 09:31 KONRAD Patrick Lidl – Trek 93 09:32 ZAMBANINI Edoardo Bahrain – Victorious 94 09:33 TORRES Albert Movistar Team 95 09:34 SCHMID Mauro Team Jayco AlUla 96 09:35 CHAMBERLAIN Oscar Decathlon CMA CGM Team 97 09:36 BENNETT George NSN Cycling Team 98 09:37 ROMELE Alessandro XDS Astana Team 99 09:38 FIORELLI Filippo Team Visma | Lease a Bike 100 09:39 NARV\u00c1EZ Jhonatan UAE Team Emirates – XRG 101 09:40 BALLERSTEDT Maurice Alpecin-Premier Tech 102 09:41 M\u00c4RKL Niklas Team Picnic PostNL 103 09:42 STORK Florian Tudor Pro Cycling Team 104 09:43 BLEDDYN Oliver Australia 105 09:44 VAN DER LEE Jardi Christiaan EF Education – EasyPost 106 09:45 THOMPSON Reuben Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 107 09:46 KRON Andreas Uno-X Mobility 108 09:47 VAN DEN BOSSCHE Fabio Soudal Quick-Step 109 09:48 ETXEBERRIA Haimar Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 110 09:49 CAVAGNA R\u00e9mi Groupama – FDJ United 111 09:50 HAMILTON Lucas INEOS Grenadiers 112 09:51 GHEBREIGZABHIER Amanuel Lidl – Trek 113 09:52 ER\u017dEN \u017dak Bahrain – Victorious 114 09:53 MORO Manlio Movistar Team 115 09:54 PORTER Rudy Team Jayco AlUla 116 09:55 GAUTHERAT Pierre Decathlon CMA CGM Team 117 09:56 STEWART Jake NSN Cycling Team 118 09:57 VELASCO Simone XDS Astana Team 119 09:58 MATTIO Pietro Team Visma | Lease a Bike 120 09:59 OLIVEIRA Ivo UAE Team Emirates – XRG 121 10:00 PLOWRIGHT Jensen Alpecin-Premier Tech 122 10:01 RENARD-HAQUIN Henri-Fran\u00e7ois Team Picnic PostNL 123 10:02 ZIJLAARD Maikel Tudor Pro Cycling Team 124 10:03 HARPER Chris Australia 125 10:04 SWEENY Harry EF Education – EasyPost 126 10:05 FOX Matthew Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 127 10:06 CHARMIG Anthon Uno-X Mobility 128 10:07 RACCAGNI NOVIERO Andrea Soudal Quick-Step 129 10:08 TUCKWELL Luke Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe 130 10:09 MARTIN Guillaume Groupama – FDJ United 131 10:10 SWIFT Ben INEOS Grenadiers 132 10:11 TEUTENBERG Tim Torn Lidl – Trek 133 10:12 BUITRAGO Santiago Bahrain – Victorious 134 10:13 ROMO Javier Movistar Team 135 10:14 PLAPP Luke Team Jayco AlUla 136 10:15 PRODHOMME Nicolas Decathlon CMA CGM Team 137 10:16 CLARKE Simon NSN Cycling Team 138 10:17 GATE Aaron XDS Astana Team 139 10:18 REX Tim Team Visma | Lease a Bike 140 10:19 VINE Jay UAE Team Emirates – XRG <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 WorldTour season officially raises the curtain on Tuesday, February 20th in Australia with the Tour 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