{"id":436118,"date":"2026-01-25T07:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T07:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/436118\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T07:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T07:41:11","slug":"rogue-kangaroo-causes-chaos-in-tour-down-under-finale-as-jay-vine-survives-crash-to-win-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/436118\/","title":{"rendered":"Rogue kangaroo causes chaos in Tour Down Under finale as Jay Vine survives crash to win title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian cycling<\/a> star Jay Vine has survived a race crash caused by a kangaroo to win the Tour Down Under for the second time.<\/p>\n

Despite losing two more UAE Team Emirates colleagues on Sunday\u2019s last stage, Vine\u2019s commanding lead was enough of a buffer. He also won the Santos Tour in 2023.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Rogue kangaroo causes chaos in Tour Down Under finale.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

British sprint ace Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease A Bike) won the last stage.<\/p>\n

A four-rider group, including last year\u2019s overall runner-up Javier Romo, broke clear on the last of eight laps. But they were caught well before the finish.<\/p>\n

Vine held onto his Tour Down Under lead the hard way, with a kangaroo causing the Australian and several other cyclists to crash during the stage.<\/p>\n

\"JayJay Vine celebrates with son Harrison after surviving a final stage marred by a kangaroo crash. Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

He was among several riders to fall when the kangaroo bounded onto the course.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh it\u2019s a kangaroo! Never seen that before!\u201d Phil Liggett said in commentary.<\/p>\n

Matthew Keenan added: \u201cUnfortunately one of the hazards of racing in Australia in these regions, some of the wildlife you can\u2019t tell them \u2018don\u2019t go about your day, there\u2019s a bike race on\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

As replays rolled Keenan remained in shock: \u201cOn this wide shot you see the crash has happened. You haven\u2019t seen the kangaroo initially coming in, he\u2019s in the middle of the road \u2014 oh dear, that\u2019s tragic.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Vine was able to stay in the race, he lost Danish teammate Mikkel Bjerg to injury after the incident with 95km left in the stage. At least a couple of other riders were also forced out of the Tour because of crash injuries.<\/p>\n

Colombian Juan Molano also separately pulled out of the stage, leaving Vine with only two teammates, British star Adam Yates and Ivo Oliveira from Portugal.<\/p>\n

But the Australian was the strongest rider in the race and he went into the last stage with a one minute and three seconds advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone asks me what\u2019s the most dangerous thing in Australia and I always tell them it\u2019s kangaroos,\u201d Vine told Channel 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they wait and they hide in the bushes until you can\u2019t stop and they jump out in front of you. Point proven today, two of them blasted through the peloton as we were doing probably 50km\/h.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of them stopped, went left, right, left, right, left, right and I ended up hitting its backside as it was flaying around on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things, bad luck, luckily I\u2019m OK and glad I\u2019m able to hold onto the (winning) jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vine told Channel 7 he spotted the first kangaroo and knew another one would be close by.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always two \u2014 a small one and a big one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bit of a circus there for a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compatriot Pat Jonker is the only other Tour winner to win by more than a minute, with his 1:13 margin in 2004.<\/p>\n

Twice, the overall result has been decided on countback.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always incredible to win a race, and to be able to do it in your home country is incredible,\u201d Vine told Channel 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning at this level is just so hard to be able to do. To be able to do it here, I can\u2019t get the words out.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was another day of drama at the Tour \u2014 four people, protesting against Santos as the Tour\u2019s title sponsor, were arrested after they tried to disrupt the racing.<\/p>\n

This was the longest stage in Tour history at 169.8km, after Saturday\u2019s stage at Willunga was shortened from 176 to 131km because of the bushfire risk.<\/p>\n

The eight circuits at Stirling in the Adelaide Hills were being raced in lower temperatures than Saturday\u2019s 40-plus oven, but it was still in the 30s.<\/p>\n

There was 529m of climbing per lap, meaning a leg-sapping 3436m for the stage.<\/p>\n

Australians Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) and Rob Stannard (Bahrain Victorious) were in a group of four that built a lead of more than three minutes, but they were never allowed too much leeway.<\/p>\n

The remnants of the break were caught at the start of the last lap.<\/p>\n

Plapp\u2019s Swiss teammate Mauro Schmid started the stage at second overall and Jayco AlUla were looking at their tactics in a bid to take the lead from Vine.<\/p>\n

But they knew it would take something massive for Vine to lose the Tour.<\/p>\n

Fellow Australian Harry Sweeny (EF Education Easypost) held third overall at 1:12 in an impressive performance.<\/p>\n

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