The World Tour kicks off at the Tour Down Under 2025

After an intense preseason, it's time to dust off the race numbers. Although some minor races have already taken place, it can now be said that a new road cycling season begins with the traditional start given by the Tour Down Under, a race that some of the best cyclists in the world and those looking to shine in the spring choose to take their first competitive pedal strokes in this 2025.

Exciting week in South Australia

As every year, the Tour Down Under takes place on the roads surrounding the city of Adelaide in a competition that consists of 6 stages that will take place between Tuesday, January 21 and next Sunday, January 26.

6 days with not excessive distances but with more than enough terrain to crown a complete cyclist in what is the first World Tour category race of 2025 in a year where accumulating the maximum possible points becomes vital for many teams in the peloton that do not have their place guaranteed among the top 18 teams at the end of the season in a year where licenses for the next three-year period of the highest category will be decided.

How to watch the Tour Down Under 2025

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Despite having broadcasting rights for Europe, according to the official race website, neither Teledeporte, the RTVE sports channel, nor Eurosport have the Tour Down Under 2025 on their schedule for the next few days. In the case of the latter, probably due to the overlap with the Australian Open Tennis which has occupied all its media during these days.

Therefore, the only way to follow the race will be through the highlights that the organization publishes after the race on their YouTube channel.

Route of the Tour Down Under 2025

As is usual, the Tour Down Under, being a season-opening race, does not propose excessively tough routes for the cyclists, neither in terms of distance, which does not exceed the 157 kilometers of the fourth stage, nor in terms of the toughness of the routes, where rolling roads and small climbs predominate to add some spice to the race.

Regarding the last editions, the absence of a stage that tackles Mount Lofty is striking, so the fifth stage, which will take place on Saturday 25, will be the most relevant with the classic finish on Willunga Hill, a hill that the cyclists will have climbed twice before.

In the rest of the stages, as we mentioned, hilly terrain and little room to make significant differences, so, as is also usual, the general classification will be decided by small details.

The first stage includes the climb of Berry Hill, which is tackled in a final circuit that is completed twice. However, the last ascent is located 30 km from the finish, so it seems unlikely that a mass arrival can be avoided.

In the second stage, more of the same. The cyclists will have to climb Menglers Hill twice, but the last pass is located 25 kilometers from the finish, so there also doesn't seem to be room for surprises on this day.

Perhaps in the third stage, we may see a different type of rider competing in the race as the peloton will have to face Knotts Hill, a short but tough climb with an average gradient of 8% less than 10 kilometers from the finish, which will likely be a preview to see which cyclists are in a position to win the overall classification.

We will have to wait until the arrival at Willunga Hill a couple of days later to know its outcome since neither the fourth stage with the finish in Victor Harbor nor the last stage, an urban circuit in the city of Adelaide itself, should be relevant for anything other than the partial victory.

Favorites to win the Tour Down Under 2025

With this perspective of the route, it is difficult to make predictions about who can claim the final victory in the Tour Down Under 2025. Obviously, we have to consider cyclists like Jay Vine who have always been competitive in this race.

We must also not forget how last year's Tour Down Under turned out to be the debut of Isaac del Toro who surprised everyone. However, the Mexican will not be part of this 2025 edition, so the aforementioned Jay Vine, Jhonatan Narváez, second last year; or Marc Soler must be the men to watch in a UAE Team Emirates-XRG that aims to start the year in the same triumphant way it ended in 2024.

Of course, we must also consider the winner of the last edition, the British rider from Israel-PremierTech Stephen Williams who will try to repeat the victory achieved a year ago.

In any case, as we mentioned, without the reference of previous races being the first race of the season and with such an open route, it is extremely difficult to make any kind of forecast, which, on the other hand, is part of the appeal of the Tour Down Under and allows us to see which cyclists approach this start of the season with more ambition.