Tour Down Under stage 5 LIVE: Challenging finale set to decide the GC podium

Stannard, Eenkhoorn and Plapp are together with a gap of 2:38, making Eenkhoorn the virtual leader on the road.

2026-01-25T01:38:50.972Z

In his chase, Plapp seemed to take a bottle from the neutral car, got a small help but didn’t actually take the bottle.

2026-01-25T01:38:09.744Z

Plapp catches Eenkhoorn, who seemed to have waited while Stannard is just up the road.

2026-01-25T01:36:43.948Z

Juan Sebastian Molano, the UAE sprinter, is at the front of the peloton followed by his teammates including Vine. Behind them en masse is Visma.

Bahrain sends a rider up to chat with Yates, probably asking UAE not to chase.

2026-01-25T01:35:29.978Z

The break has 2:45, so Plapp is somewhere in the middle after a slow wheel change.

2026-01-25T01:34:38.766Z

Rear wheel puncture for Plapp, and it’s a slow change. Chain off as well.

2026-01-25T01:32:42.224Z

Lots of activity in the convoy, with riders going back to their cars to get supplies for their teammates.

2026-01-25T01:28:50.395Z

Lots of chatter in the trio, mostly by Plapp.

2026-01-25T01:27:03.025Z

Break, with Stannard, Plapp and Eenkhoorn have 1:10 with 134.5km and are the lower slopes Stirling climb which is not a KOM on this lap.

2026-01-25T01:25:12.803Z

The peloton has calmed down, momentarily as domestiques bring up ice socks and bottles for their teammates.

2026-01-25T01:22:28.461Z

The highest-placed rider in the break is Eenkhoorn at 2:15, and Plapp is at 2:55

2026-01-25T01:19:41.707Z

The new break of Robert Stannard (Bahrain Victorious, Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) and Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal-Quickstep) only have 25 seconds.

Riders continue to attack at the front.

2026-01-25T01:18:32.228Z

Stannard has made it across again but the trio have a very slim lead of 8 seconds.

2026-01-25T01:15:36.068Z

Eenkhoorn attacked again and was quickly joined by Plapp. The pair is discussing strategy, but they only have 12 seconds on the field.

2026-01-25T01:13:15.105Z

White jersey Andrea Raccagni is still chasing in the team cars with assistance his Alberto Dainese, the sprinter on their team.

2026-01-25T01:12:32.057Z

Jayco-AlUla sports director Matthew Hayman shared his thoughts with Cyclingnews at the start in Stirling this morning. Their GC leader Mauro Schmid sits second overall, 1:30 down and nine seconds ahead of Harry Sweeny (EF Education-Easypost).

“There’s the fatigue from yesterday. We obviously want a hard race, and we want to see if we can expose UAE at any stage but you can’t do that by yourself … so there’s elements of when the bunch just doesn’t want to race, I’m not going to send my guys attacking like idiots, so we need to encourage that [the attacks] and get the right combinations going.”

Reinderink goes through the line first, and takes maximum KOM points.

2026-01-25T01:08:34.198Z

Cepeda, along with Pepijn Reinderink, joins up with Plapp.

Once again, swift reaction from the field, and it’s back together.

2026-01-25T01:07:07.332Z

Plapp attacks again, and is covered by EF rider.

2026-01-25T01:04:48.461Z

Two riders are coming across the gap, but the peloton is closing too.

2026-01-25T01:03:30.549Z

White jersey Andrea Raccagni (Soudal-Quickstep) has a mechanical at the back.

2026-01-25T01:02:51.045Z

Gap is tumbling, down to 14 seconds as Veistroffer is looking over his shoulder.

2026-01-25T01:02:21.073Z

The road has started to go up, as they head to the top of KOM #1, at the finish line, and the start of lap 2/=.

The cat. 2 Stirling climb is 2km long with max pitches of 11.1% and an average gradient of 3.7%

2026-01-25T01:00:38.112Z

A bigger group trying to escape the peloton, as the trio up the road has about a one-minute lead.

2026-01-25T00:59:38.620Z

More attacks in the peloton. Luke Plapp makes a move followed by Vine’s teammate Oliveira.

2026-01-25T00:58:04.638Z

The three riders in the break are Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), Fabio van den Bossche (Soudal-Quickstep) and Robert Stannard (Bahrain Victorious).

Perfect combination for race leader Jay Vine as Veistroffer is the highest placed on GC at 5:38 down.

2026-01-25T00:54:33.064Z

Baptiste Veistroffer and Fabio van den Bossche make it across to Stannard, and they have 23 seconds with 159km togo.

2026-01-25T00:53:17.834Z

Counter attack by Kell OBrien trying to escape the peloton. A few riders in between O’Brien and Stannard.

2026-01-25T00:51:47.739Z

Stannard is solo with five riders chasing together and ones and twos also jumping. Jayco is at the front of the peloton, looking to shut it down.

2026-01-25T00:50:39.846Z

A few riders have a small gap with no breathing space.

Meanwhile at the back Lewis Boyer has a mechanical, his chain looks to be jammed. Gets a bike change from his team car.

2026-01-25T00:48:47.587Z

Shuffling and re-shuffling at the front with riders to form the break. Now it’s Patrick Konrad who tries to go, and Robert Stannard comes across and past him.

2026-01-25T00:47:06.364Z

Team directors told their riders today ‘do not miss the break’. Hence onslaught of attacks.

2026-01-25T00:46:30.282Z

After being caught, Veistroffer counters and is shutdown. And more attacks, this time by Soudal Quickstep and NSN reacts.

2026-01-25T00:45:49.707Z

Baptiste Veistroffer is another rider trying to escape. He was in the break on stage 3.

2026-01-25T00:44:46.223Z

Soudal, Red Bull, Ineos, XDS Astana and more are trying to escape.

2026-01-25T00:43:59.102Z

More riders jump on Eenkhoorn’s move. Lots of teams want to be in the break.

2026-01-25T00:43:05.929Z

First attack by Pascal Eenkhoorn with a quick reaction.

2026-01-25T00:41:56.325Z

And we’re off and racing!

2026-01-25T00:40:32.804Z

The heat and crashes took a toll yesterday, as 10 riders did not finish stage 4. The peloton, down to 126 riders, is off for the short 0.5km neutral zone.

2026-01-25T00:34:57.999Z

Current conditions at the start in Henley Beach, according to CN’s reporter on the ground, Simone Giuliani, are:

“A far kinder temperature awaits the riders as they get set for the start of the final stage, with temperatures sitting at a civilised 25 degrees as the team cars roll up to the start line. What’s more, the forecast maximum at the start/finish line in the hills is forecast to hit just 32°C … not exactly a cool change but far kinder than yesterday, where another 10°C was added on top of that.

2026-01-25T00:32:59.905Z

Here’s what race director Stuart O’Grady said about stage 5: “This is going to be the best final stage we’ve ever had. In previous editions of the race the script has typically been decided by Willunga Hill, but a Stirling circuit on the final day is a whole new ball game. It’s almost like a world championship or national championship-style circuit where there will be so many opportunities to attack.”

“Even if you’re within a minute of the lead, if the racing is hard and smart enough, you have the potential to destroy the ochre jersey because it’s going to be very hard for a team to control the peloton for eight laps around Stirling. Stirling provides a perfect viewing platform with great food and drink options and lots of shade, so it should be a cracking day.”

2026-01-25T00:31:23.123Z

At 169.8 kilometres, this is among the longest closing stages in Santos Tour Down Under history. The peloton will tackle eight laps of an undulating circuit that heads south from Stirling, with intermediate sprints at Longwood before it loops back, for a total of 3,436 m of elevation gain.

“The last day around Stirling adds even more up and down, with a saw blade profile and four classified climbs before the finishing ascent on Mount Barker Road. The climb is 2km long and rises only 78 metres, averaging 4%. But the average is deceptive as some pitches of 11% will weigh heavily on tired legs.”

2026-01-25T00:27:09.951Z

Stage 2 winner Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) leads the general classification with 1:03 on Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), and Harry Sweeny (EF Education-Eastypost) in third, at 1:12. Though Vine looks fairly secure, the battle for second and third on GC should be heated with only 10 seconds separating third and seventh place.

Stage 1 winner Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) leads the points classification. Andrea Raccagni (Soudal-Quickstep) tops the best young rider classification, and after spending three days in the break, Martin Urianstad (Uno-X Mobility) tops the mountain classification.

2026-01-14T22:33:28.148Z

Welcome to Cyclingnews’ live coverage of stage 5, starting and ending in Stirling, of the Tour Down Under. The stage starts at 11:10 am local time and finishes roughly four hours later.