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2026-01-20T09:39:33.880Z
Excellent ride by Harry Sweeny (EF Education-Easy Post), eight seconds back. Could he be a surprise contender for GC?
2026-01-20T09:37:47.484Z
Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor) placed sixth, provisionally, on the stage.
2026-01-20T09:37:07.002Z
Five seconds down on Watson. A big boost for the Briton en route to victory today.
2026-01-20T09:36:41.752Z
Ooh this is a good time for Maikel Zijlaard, but will he get it?
2026-01-20T09:36:04.195Z
Still the top three the same as for a long time, Watson leading Ethan Vernon at 0.59 seconds and with 2.7 seconds on Laurence Pithie.
2026-01-20T09:35:07.522Z
15 riders left to go
2026-01-20T09:34:18.563Z
Ivo Oliveira finishes eight seconds down, visibly disappointed.
2026-01-20T09:33:36.571Z
Yet another top contender for today, Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor) has started. Watson will be watching the TV screens very closely…
2026-01-20T09:31:06.803Z
And another big name for today’s win, Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), narrowly second behind Watson last year in the Tour de Romandie prologue, has made his start.
2026-01-20T09:24:01.243Z
Rémi Cavagna, considered one of the big TT favourites, heads down the start ramp.
2026-01-20T09:23:26.512Z
Another photo from the prologue. Here’s Adam Yates mid-way through his TDU debut.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-01-20T09:21:12.778Z
Bleddyn was already second this year in the elite men’s TT Nationals’ just over a week ago, and he’s clearly remained on his game here.
2026-01-20T09:19:51.507Z
That was close. Oliver Bleddyn (Australia National Team) gives local fans something to cheer for, turns in an excellent time just 4 seconds slower than Watson. For now, he’s fourth on the stage.
2026-01-20T09:18:04.365Z
It’s not just the GC battle that counts, either today. The sprinters will be keen to turn in some top times, given Wednesday’s 120 kilometre stage to Tanunda will be one for the fastmen, and a spell in the leader’s jersey if they’re close enough up on GC, (particularly with time bonuses on offer) never did anybody any harm.
2026-01-20T09:16:16.929Z
Narváez comes home nine seconds down on Watson, one of the best GC contenders. That confirms he’s definitely up for a repeat win Down Under – just as Noemi Rüegg did in the Women’s TDU a few days back.
2026-01-20T09:11:09.551Z
Defending champion Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emiratex-XRG) rolls down the start ramp. Second in 2024 as well, his time today will be crucial long-term.
2026-01-20T09:09:38.444Z
And now Swiss National TT Champ Mauro Schmid has moved into fourth on the stage, four seconds down on Watson.
2026-01-20T09:06:15.441Z
Worth noting that Erik Nordsæter Resell (Uno-X Mobility) has snuck into the top five of the stage, in fourth spot, six seconds down on Watson, and pushing Fisher-Black down to fifth and early best time Leonard down to sixth.
2026-01-20T09:02:29.881Z
Those contenders are largely for the stage win, of course – with the likel exceptions of Plapp and Vine, the GC winner back in 2023 – but in a race won and lost by seconds overall, a lot of the interest lies in how the GC contenders fare on today’s short effort, too.
2026-01-20T08:58:55.477Z
Maikel Zijlaard, incidentally, was the winner of the Tour de Romandie prologue in 2024, the same stage that Watson won back in the day, so could well be a serious threat. That stage was only 2.28 kilometres long, so a similar length to Adelaide today.
2026-01-20T08:57:17.808Z
Key start times to come
Some of the big names to come and their start-times:
Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United): 19.49
Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): 19.59
Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor): 20.02
Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla): 20.14
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): 20.19
2026-01-20T08:45:53.132Z
A shot of Watson here in the hot seat, taken by CN’s Simone Guiliani
Sam Watson in the 2026 TDU prologue hot seat (Image credit: Simone Giuiliani)
2026-01-20T08:41:52.567Z
No changes now in the provisional rankings for the best part of an hour, with Watson still in the lead ahead of Vernon.
2026-01-20T08:40:15.270Z
Talking of Finn Fisher-Black, we have a big interview with him courtesy of colleague James Moultrie right here:
‘They’re just normal guys’ – Finn Fisher-Black gives unique insight into cycling superstars Evenepoel and Pogačar and the effect they can have on a whole team
2026-01-20T08:36:22.524Z
Another big-name contender, Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), riding his first ever TDU, finishes 18 seconds back on compatriot Watson.
2026-01-20T08:31:36.153Z
And Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla), big local star and potentially a GC favourite, rides home 13 seconds down on Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers).
2026-01-20T08:29:27.578Z
Time for another photo: here’s Finn Fisher-Black, currently fourth on provisional times today, out on the course.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-01-20T08:27:10.860Z
Worth noting that Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) the rider that ran him the closest in Romandie, losing by just O.28 seconds, is also racing in the TDU. And he’s yet to start…
2026-01-20T08:25:32.950Z
If – and it’s still a big if, given so many riders are yet to come – Sam Watson gets the win, then it won’t be his first prologue victory in the World Tour. One of Watson’s five wins to date was the Tour de Romandie prologue last year, over a very similar distance of 3.44 kilometres.
2026-01-20T08:20:36.343Z
Weather update
2026-01-20T08:18:56.986Z
The provisional top five – Sam Watson leads
4. Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) at 6 sec
5. Michael Leonard (EF Education-Easy Post) at 7 sec
2026-01-20T08:15:05.828Z
Yet more reading material should you need it: colleague Matilda Price has written the Cyclingnews’ breakdown of who the big GC contenders will likely be in this year’s Santos Tour Down Under. Here’s the link:
Home riders among favourites in open GC field – Analysing the Tour Down Under contenders
2026-01-20T08:07:53.175Z
And let’s not forget, racing has already been happening already, not just the Nationals. The Women’s Tour Down Under finished less than 48 hours ago. You can read our full report here:
Women’s Tour Down Under: Noemi Rüegg outsprints UAE Team ADQ rivals to win stage 3 and claim overall for second year in a row
2026-01-20T08:04:29.913Z
And here’s an image of Sam Watson during his ride to the provisional top spot overall: will it be enough to take the first lead of the race?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-01-20T07:59:14.622Z
Vine has recently claimed the Australian National TT title for a second time in his career, and even if the course is – as he said earlier today – one for the track specialists than pure road time triallers, interest will be very high in what he can achieve. You can read about his victory in Perth, on the other side of Australia, here:
Jay Vine reclaims elite men’s time trial title at the Australian Road National Championships
2026-01-20T07:56:06.017Z
Riders are off at minute intervals all the way to last starter Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at 20:19 local time.
2026-01-20T07:53:29.881Z
Back to the present, there are two checkpoints in the course, at km 1 and km2, prior to the finish at km 3.6.
2026-01-20T07:52:16.483Z
Luke Durbridge (Jayco-AlUla) finishes. A long, long time ago in a country far, far away, ‘Turbo Durbo’ won a very similar short opening prologue in the Critérium du Dauphiné, beating no less a time trial star than Bradley Wiggins. For those looking to dust down the history books, here’s our report:
Durbridge wins Criterium du Dauphine prologue in Grenoble
2026-01-20T07:47:14.980Z
And that in turn is superceded by Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers) with a fastest time of 4:16.9. Just a couple of seconds faster, but it puts the Briton into the hot seat.
2026-01-20T07:44:57.682Z
That was a good start to the year for Leonard in his first ever race with new team EF, but he’s already been overhauled by New Zealand’s Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) with a time of 4:19, nearly five seconds faster.
2026-01-20T07:41:18.261Z
And as if by magic, they appear. Fastest time currently for Michael Leonard of 4:24. He’s got a hefty (by 3.2 kilometre prologue standards) advantage of 2.3 kilometres on Marco Brenner (Tudor).
2026-01-20T07:38:47.808Z
No clear indication yet of times, but we’ll bring them as soon as we’ve got something vaguely official.
2026-01-20T07:38:02.700Z
More background from Simone Giuliani on the ground about the atmosphere out there in Adelaide:
“Crowds are starting to pack the roadside around the start area with riders sheltering from the sun under marquees before they line up, wearing ice vests given it’s still warm despite the late start. Though with it being just a hop skip and jump from the village and their accomodation they don’t have to worry about setting out too far in advance.”
2026-01-20T07:36:11.831Z
Gogl powers home, the first rider across the line. But a time trialing specialist like Canadian TT champion Michael Leonard (EF Education-EasyPost) is out there on the course, and he’s likely to set a very good time, too.
2026-01-20T07:32:28.073Z
And Gogl is off, the Tour Down Under is officially underway.
2026-01-20T07:26:38.019Z
Critically, it’s mostly flat.
2026-01-20T07:25:42.942Z
As for the course, here’s what the riders can expect: some technical bits, basically and some bits to get a good turn of speed on:
“The prologue starts near the Tour village with a straight stretch down Wakefield Street before a right turn into East terrace after 1.1km and then another left, right and then left hand turn in quick succession before a sharp left and two hairpin turns before riders can complete the run through to the finish line at Victoria Park.”
2026-01-20T07:22:26.330Z
If you’re wondering, the last time there was a prologue in the Tour Down Under was back in 2023, also in Adelaide. That was almost twice the length though, 5.5 kilometres, with the win going to Italy’s Alberto Bettiol. You can read the CN report about that here.
Alberto Bettiol wins a wet prologue at the Tour Down Under
2026-01-20T07:10:35.066Z
First rider down the start ramp in Adelaide will be Austria’s Michael Gogl (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
2026-01-20T07:05:26.503Z
“The winds should ease through the evening with the current gust speed of 26 knots expected to drop to around 18 knots by the time Jay Vine, the last rider out, is heading to the line.”
2026-01-20T07:04:56.071Z
Current weather conditions are, according to CN’s reporter on the ground Simone Giuliani, as follows: “It may be stretching into the evening in Adelaide but the sun still has a sting in it and the temperature is sitting around 30 degrees Celsius. Currently there are also gusty bursts of wind blowing across the course.”
2026-01-20T07:00:34.661Z
That said, this is the first day of racing in the 2026 elite men’s WorldTour, so anticipation is high as the men’s season gets underway.
2026-01-20T06:59:27.532Z
The course is just 3.6 kilometres long, meaning this is very much a short, fast effort which will produce a first leader, but long term it’ll likely have little effect on GC.
2026-01-14T21:19:10.423Z
Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the prologue of the Santos Tour Down Under in Adelaide
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