Tour Down Under stage 2 LIVE: Climbers out to play on feared Corkscrew Road ascent

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2026-01-22T02:54:29.938Z

Riders are speeding down towards the finish line in Uraidla to start the second and final big loop.

It will give them a chance to see the approach at speed.

2026-01-22T02:52:41.675Z

Team cars are being pulled out of the gap between the break and the field.

Gap is now under the 1-minute mark.

2026-01-22T02:50:38.197Z

70km to go

Break of seven: Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victorious), Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-Quickstep), Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Lucas Stevenson (Australia), Joël Suter (Tudor), and Martin Urianstad and Storm Ingebrigtsen (both Uno-X Mobilty)

Lone chaser of Kelland O’Brien (Jayco Alula)

Peloton at 1:20

2026-01-22T02:46:30.481Z

Meanwhile, behind UAE went to the front of the pack, to control the pace to assist Narvaez who has a mechanical and rejoined.

O’Brien is in no man’s land as the break has a gap of 1:40 with 72km to go.

2026-01-22T02:45:31.932Z

KOM #2 results

1- Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-Quickstep)

2 – Martin Urianstad (Uno-X Mobility)

3 – Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victorious)

4 – Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X Mobilty)

2026-01-22T02:42:35.859Z

Reinderink goes first, accelerates from 4th wheel, and gets no reaction. Urianstad is second again.

2026-01-22T02:41:33.620Z

Urianstad looks behind him and no movement, yet.

2026-01-22T02:41:05.392Z

Urianstad is leading the group with Reinderink sitting in 4th wheel. Reinderink surprised on the first KOM to take max points.

2026-01-22T02:39:24.255Z

Break is still together with 500 metres to the KOM line.

2026-01-22T02:38:58.867Z

Jayco’s Kelland O’Brien attacks at the front of the field.

2026-01-22T02:38:36.034Z

Narvaez is the the cars, and does not have a teammate with him. Seems to have a new bike and connects to the back of the field

2026-01-22T02:37:04.136Z

Narvaez has a mechanical, looks at his gears and drops back to his team car.

2026-01-22T02:36:07.576Z

🇦🇺 #TourDownUnderWhat an atmosphere at the top of the Corkscrew 🤩 pic.twitter.com/hpJIww1fBNJanuary 22, 2026

2026-01-22T02:34:22.691Z

Time gap is tumbling, to under 2 minutes as the break takes the turn to get onto the lower slopes of the climb.

2026-01-22T02:33:29.141Z

Luke Durbridge is driving at the front with a Jayco teammate on his wheel. Red Bull lined up behind them.

2026-01-22T02:32:55.351Z

In the break, Reinderink clipped out briefly to shake his leg.

2026-01-22T02:32:26.537Z

Break just raced by the 5km to the top of KOM #1, the cat 1 Corkscrew climb.

The 3.67km ascent has an average gradient of 9.7% with max kicks of 16.2%

2026-01-22T02:31:37.689Z

Peloton is racing towards the bottom of the Corkscrew. Red Bull now moving up for Finn Fisher-Black.

2026-01-22T02:30:58.462Z

Seven riders in the break are still working well together, a double rotation line.

Break is Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victorious), Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-Quickstep), Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Lucas Stevenson (Australia), Joël Suter (Tudor), Storm Ingebrigtsen and Martin Urianstad (both Uno-X Mobility)

2026-01-22T02:22:51.007Z

It hasn’t exactly been an easy run-in to the race for last year’s runner-up Javier Romo (Movistar).

“He had a wisdom tooth taken out about four days, five days ago – since we’ve been here in Adelaide,” Matt White, who has recently joined the Spanish team, told Cyclingnews before the stage start.

“There’s been no complications but he’s said he hasn’t been feeling 100% since then. But we’ve got to try today. Today’s just crucial. You know, if you lose time today, it’s gonna be really hard to get it back.”

2026-01-22T02:21:21.856Z

The break is pushing through Cuddly Creek, with a gap of 2:35.

2026-01-22T02:18:34.796Z

Jayco on the right side of the road, UAE on the other side with Lotto, Visma and Decathlon and Ineos charging up the middle.

2026-01-22T02:16:59.885Z

Speeds hitting 90kmph as they speed down towards the corner that will take the riders onto the Corkscrew climb.

2026-01-22T02:15:28.350Z

Jayco, Visma, UAE and Decathlon are jostling for control and for position at the front of the peloton. Lotto also pushed its way to the front.

2026-01-22T02:14:38.447Z

Break is speeding downhill towards Cuddly Creek. They are still working well together as they gap holds around 2:46

2026-01-22T02:13:13.445Z

Tension will start to build as the riders are 20km to the top of the Corkscrew. Teams with GC contenders are starting to move up.

2026-01-22T02:11:57.292Z

It’s clear that UAE Team Emirates-XRG are a team that is being ever so closely watched by all its rivals today, particularly with Jay Vine making his form clear with his Australian time trial title win and last year’s winner Jhonatan Narváez having already reminded rivals of his knack of snaring bonus seconds when he picked up three on stage 1. It means teams are having to prepare to counter the squad on multiple fronts.

“We’ve got three guys there to play our cards,” Jayco AlUla sports director Matthew Hayman told Cyclingnews before the start of the stage, with Mauro Schmid’s speed a counter to Narváez, and then they also have Luke Plapp and Ben O’Connor.

“It’s a long way from the top of the Corkscrew. We know that Jay’s very good on that climb, but from that point, we want to use our numbers, We’re going to play our cards, we know that today is key and the guys know that; it’s no secret.”

2026-01-22T02:11:16.124Z

Jayco Alula is moving forwards in the peloton.

2026-01-22T02:09:42.393Z

Reinderink, who seemed to be telling the others in the break what to do for the intermediate sprint, was second across the line.

2026-01-22T02:07:34.707Z

Plowright takes the intermediate sprint with no challenge from the others.

2026-01-22T02:06:46.562Z

Plowright, the newly crowned Australian criterium champion, is sitting at the back of the group.

2026-01-22T02:05:55.261Z

Urianstad at the front of the group with 1km to sprint.

2026-01-22T02:04:26.688Z
100km to go

Break is approaching the first intermediate sprint. The seven escapees have a lead of 2:45 on the peloton with 100km to go

2026-01-22T02:02:01.915Z

UAE doing the work at the front of the peloton (Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-01-22T01:51:35.478Z

Stake Laengen continues to set the pace at the front of the peloton, with the whole Decathlon team behind him, including the ochre jersey Lund Andresen sitting in the middle. Behind them is the Ineos squad.

2026-01-22T01:46:26.459Z

Decathlon CMA CGM moves up en masse, sitting behind the UAE and Ineos rider, monitoring the front of the peloton.

2026-01-22T01:43:07.265Z

Last year on stage 3, Javier Romo (Movistar) launched an attack on the descent of Knotts Hill with 6km to go to win the stage, his first UCI victory, in Uraidla.

His bold acceleration held off the reduced peloton by five seconds. Jhonathan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates XRG) took second place and Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) was third.

2026-01-22T01:38:36.365Z

And now the peloton, led by 2 Scandinavian riders on UAE, Mikkel Berg and Vegard Stake Laengen, cross the line, 2:24 behind the break.

2026-01-22T01:36:44.591Z

The 7-rider break cross the finish line in Uraidla, to start the first of two sweeping loops through communities including Crafers, Piccadilly, Lobethal and Cudlee Creek.

2026-01-22T01:35:08.064Z

Speaking of UAE, they put three riders at the front of the peloton to control the gap to the break. Behind them, are Ineos Grenadiers riders.

2026-01-22T01:34:03.894Z

Let’s hear what defending champion Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) told the Seven commentators this morning at the start in Norwood.

“Today, I think, is the really important stage is almost 400 meters of elevation. We have a strong team. We came here with a lot of motivation, and we will do our best in the stage today, with me, with Jay [Vine], we have a strong team now.

“This edition is really hard, we have a strong team, and we will try to win the race.”

Going into stage 2, Vine was 5 seconds down and Narvaez was a further 2 seconds back on GC.

2026-01-22T01:31:46.045Z

Stage 1 saw two abandons following crashes: Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Max van der Meulen (Bahrain Victorious) both hitting the deck in a small but nasty accident.

Read more: Marius Mayrhofer suffers multiple fractures in Tour Down Under crash, whilst brain scan all clear for Max van der Meulen

2026-01-22T01:30:34.887Z

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The break is working well together, seeing a gap of 2:07 with 125km to go.

2026-01-22T01:23:06.065Z

Correction. The best-placed rider on GC is Australian Jensen Plowright, who is 8 seconds down. He is now the virtual leader on the road as the gap gets close to the 2-minute mark.

2026-01-22T01:21:23.925Z

The seven riders in the break, including 2 teammates of race leader Lund Andresen.

2026-01-22T01:20:11.873Z

Let’s hear what race leader and stage 1 winner Tobias Lund Andresen (Uno-X Mobility) told the Seven commentator this morning in Norwood.

“It feels really good. It’s the first time for me to wear the leader’s jersey in a WorldTour. So I’m just going to soak it in today. I think it’s a beautiful one, yeah, probably last day in the leader’s jersey as well. So I need to enjoy the moment.”

About defending the ochre jersey: “I think it would be naive if they focused on me today. I kind of just have to manage the day and get ready for tomorrow, and then we’ve got some fast climbers here, they can try and take it off me today.”

2026-01-22T01:15:17.549Z

The seven rejoin at the front and push on through the feedzone with a gap of 1:38.

2026-01-22T01:13:04.157Z

Battle for the KOM points with Reinderink putting in a surprise acceleration to take the maximum points (7). Urianstad is second across the line for 5 points. Stevenson was third at KOM #1.

2026-01-22T01:11:29.785Z

Ingebrigtsen immediately went to the front to set the pace for his teammate Urianstad.

2026-01-22T01:10:54.565Z

Suter is the highest placed rider on GC in the break, at 14 seconds down, making him the virtual leader on the road.

2026-01-22T01:09:08.813Z

Storm Ingebrigtsen made it across to the six riders, making it 2 Uno-X riders in the 7-rider move with 140km to go.

Break has 57 seconds on the peloton.

2026-01-22T01:05:06.616Z

Chasers catch the break making it six riders up the road with 142.5km to go.

The group is driven by KOM leader Urianstad who is looking to pick up the KOM points coming in less than 5 kilometres.

2026-01-22T01:03:35.175Z

UAE is driving the peloton as Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X) is not making any headway in his chase.

2026-01-22T01:02:15.932Z

The 2 riders trying to bridge up are Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victorious) and Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-Quickstep).

Duo is 11 seconds behind the quartet,

2026-01-22T01:00:06.577Z

Two more riders jump from the field to try and make it across the 32-second gap. And another Uno-X rider also jumps.

2026-01-22T00:58:52.994Z
Break

The four riders in the break are Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Martin Urianstad (Uno-X Mobility), Lucas Stevenson (Australia) and Joel Suter (Tudor).

2026-01-22T00:56:49.364Z

UAE controlling the front already and they seem content with the four riders up the road.

2026-01-22T00:56:27.020Z

KOM leader Martin Urianstad also makes it across, followed by Lucas Stevenson.

2026-01-22T00:55:17.158Z

It is Joel Sutter from Tudor who powered away. And he gets a reaction, Jensen Plowright makes it across the small gap.

2026-01-22T00:54:20.540Z

Tudor rider makes the first move, but gets no reaction.

2026-01-22T00:52:08.442Z

And we’re racing!

2026-01-22T00:47:21.456Z

Should be an aggressive start as the riders are almost going ahead of the race director’s car. Stuart O’Grady is trying to calm them down.

2026-01-22T00:44:59.789Z

Riders are swarming the lead car as they warm up their legs before the start of the stage.

As soon as the flag drops, the road will go up for the first KOM of the day, the cat. 2 Ashton. A maximum incline of 12.2% will sting, with 4% average gradient.

2026-01-22T00:40:51.763Z

The riders are rolling through 5.1km neutral section on their way to the official start of stage 2.

2026-01-22T00:34:07.405Z

The GC contenders will have to show if they have the legs on the 148.1km stage. Three climbs are on the agenda, with a grind up Norton Summit followed by a visit to Mt Lofty and the men’s first dual ascent of notorious Corkscrew Road.

Here’s what race director Stuart O’Grady said about stage 2: “On paper this is potentially the hardest stage we’ve had in Santos Tour Down Under history. The peloton has traditionally gone up Corkscrew and turned right into Campbelltown, but this time they’ll turn left at the top as the climb continues up Montacute Road, then back down through Uraidla for a final lap. It will be really challenging.”

2026-01-22T00:27:49.859Z

Stage 1 winner Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) leads the general classification with one second on prologue winner Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers), and two seconds on Ethan Vernon (NSN). But stage 2, with 3624 metres of elevation gain, is sure to shake up the standings today.

Lund Andresen also leads the points classification. Stage 1 runner-up Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) tops the best young rider classification. Spending the day in the break on stage 1, Martin Urianstad (Uno-X Mobility) tops the mountain classification.

2026-01-14T21:50:50.230Z

Welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of the Tour Down Under stage 2, from Norwood to Uraidla. The stage starts at 11:10 am local time or 12:30 am GMT and finishes roughly three hours later.

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