The start lists for the 2026 men’s and women’s Santos Tour Down Under have been revealed, with several former winners and rising stars of the peloton set to light up the racing in Australia and kick off WorldTour racing in the new season.
Defending champions Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Noemi Ruëgg (EF Education-Oatly) are both returning to try and retain the ochre jersey from January 20 and January 17, respectively.
Narváez makes up part of a star-studded UAE squad, who will be looking to pick up where they left off in 2025 as the highest-ranked and best squad in men’s cycling, with another former winner, Jay Vine, and Adam Yates joining him for the six days of racing.
Looking to upset the title holders will be the likes of Ben O’Connor, Mauro Schmid and Luke Plapp – all from home team Jayco AlUla – with all of their previous best finishes Down Under being inside the top six overall.
Podium finisher from last season, Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), will also be looking to challenge on the punchy roads from Adelaide to Stirling. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) will also be looking to find their best legs on the key climbing day to Willunga Hill on stage 4.
In what was described as the ‘strongest ever women’s field for the Tour Down Under‘ in the press release, Ruëgg has serious reinforcements for her title defence in the form of world champion Magdeleine Vallieres, as she kicks off her 2026 season in Australia.
Ruëgg starred with victory up Willunga Hill in 2025, but will face more stiff competition on…
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