The Santos Tour Down Under have revealed the full entity list for the 2025 Australian stage races, with defending champion Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) joined in the men’s race by Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana), Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), 2023 winner Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Damien Howson, who leads the Australian national team.
The women’s peloton includes Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv-AlUla-Jayco), Chloe Dygert (Canyon-Sram), Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek), Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health), Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly) and Olympic silver medallist Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez). 2024 winner Sarah Gigante will not race after recently undergoing surgery to treat iliac artery endofibrosis.
“Having eight reigning national champions across the men’s and women’s pelotons shows the depth of quality we have in the field for our 25th anniversary, and I think we’ll see some unbelievable racing this summer,” Tour Down Under Race Director Stuart O’Grady said.
The women’s Tour Down Under lasts for three days between January 17-19. The men’s race includes six stages between January 21-26.
Tour de France Queen of the Mountain Justine Ghekiere is part of the AG Insurance-Soudal line-up for the women’s race, as is her teammate and Adelaide rider Alexandra Manly. Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-Sram) also returns to Australia, while Lizzie Deigan is part of the Lidl-Trek team as she begins her final season of her distinguished career.
The men’s start list also includes Canadian national champion Mike Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) 2024 runner-up Jhonatan Narváez, who will share leadership with Vine after his move to UAE Team Emirates XRG, young French national champion Paul Lapeira (Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale) and Michal Kwiatkowski and the USA Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers).
19-year-old Spanish super talent Pablo Torres will make his debut with UAE Team Emirates XRG in Australia, as will Albert Withen Philipsen and Tim Torn Teutenberg at Lidl-Trek.
Aaron Gate will target the sprints and UCI ranking for XDS Astana alongside Bettiol and Sergio Higuits, while Sam Welsford leads the sprint squad for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Plapp leads the large contingent of Australia riders that also includes Luke Durbridge, Michael Hepburn, Lucas Hamilton.
Cycling News will have full coverage from both races, with race reports, news, interviews and analysis.
