The Women’s WorldTour is off and running in Australia, and on Tuesday the men’s edition kicks off the 17th WorldTour with its own Santos Tour Down Under. At the start line in Prospect will be two of the six Israel-Premier Tech Canadians, Michael Woods and Pier-André Côté. Woods is the current Canadian road champion and Côté is the time trial champion.
The champ is back! 🙌
We’re just a few days away from the start of the WorldTour season where Stevie Williams will look to defend his @tourdownunder title, backed by a strong team in Adelaide!
“I come back now with extra motivation and, hopefully, we can have a similar outcome… pic.twitter.com/zoJ95vnbm4
— Israel – Premier Tech (@IsraelPremTech) January 15, 2025
It’s Côté’s first full year with the senior Israel-Premier Tech squad after a year in the Academy, while Michael Woods begins his 14th pro campaign by taking on his first TDU since 2019. The Canadian duo’s teammate Stephen Williams aims to defend his 2024 title, the first earned by a Brit in 24 editions. He went on to become the first British winner of La Flèche Wallonne.
Jay Vine of UAE-Emirates is the only other former winner racing in South Australia. The race was cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to COVID-19.
Derek Gee started for IPT at the Tour Down Under the last two seasons, and Guillaume Boivin joined him last year. Gee has March’s Tirreno-Adriatico and May’s Giro d’Italia on his schedule.
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