The new format for the Santos Tour Down Under, where the women’s event will run alongside the final three days of the six-stage men’s event, will also be bringing some new course twists including a dual ascent of Willunga Hill where the traditional approach will be flipped.
The 874km men’s race, from January 19 to January 24, will start at 10:40am local time each day and the first stage will eschew the normal sprint-friendly start and immediately open up with a 170km day which will keep the entire field of the opening WorldTour race of the season on its toes. The route will start at Henley Beach and includes three ascents of Checker Hill before the Gumeracha finish line so the battle for the ochre jersey of the leader will begin early.
Stage 2 of the men’s race may give the fast finishers their chance, with three runs around a 50km loop from Angaston which takes riders through the Barossa and has a gradual uphill run to the finish. Then on the 170km stage 3 from Lobethal the climbing legs will be tested, with two laps around Mount Lofty and a double ascent of the Corkscrew before turning right to head toward the Campbelltown finish line.
From Friday January 22 the three-stage and 397.3km women’s Tour Down Under will also begin, starting at 12:10 each day at 90 minutes after the men set off, and tackling the same course and same distance.
“By having two races out on the roads at the same time, we had to get creative with our course design and I feel there will be a lot more unknowns next January, race director Stuart O’Grady said in a media release. “We’ve had to look for different roads and climbs, so it will be a different looking TDU and I’m excited by that.
“Things like three ascensions of Checker Hill will spice up the race from day one, and a new approach to Willunga Hill on the penultimate day could really change the way that stage is raced.”
The first double race day on Friday, stage 4 for the men and stage one for the women’s race, will set off from Glenelg which was also where the first Women’s WorldTour ranked edition began. The 144.7km course will pass through Chandlers Hill, McLaren Vale and Nettle Hill before returning to a waterside finish on The Esplanade.
“Glenelg has become symbolic for big moments in our women’s race so it’s fitting that it hosts the start of the first ever men’s and women’s double header – which also promises to be a really hard first stage of the women’s race,” said O’Grady.
On Saturday the race will then sweep up to the top of the iconic climb of the event, Willunga Hill, twice but the 116km stage from Christies Beach will instead be tackling the Willunga loop in the opposite direction to previous years.
The final day of racing will deliver an Adelaide Hills finale, with the finish line in Stirling, just as it was for the men’s event in 2026. However, this time the start will be at Norwood, delivering an altered path to the finish line that includes Norton Summit, KOM and QOM points up for grabs in Ashton and Checker Hill before heading to Lobethal and Hahndorf. Finally, riders will take on a lap of Stirling before the finish line delivers the victors of the first men’s and women’s WorldTour races of the 2027 season.
