The Santos Women’s Tour Down Under might struggle to entice some of the major European teams to make the long journey but there will, once again, be a powerful field racing in the three-day event held from January 17-19 in and around Adelaide.
This year will mark the strongest field to date with ten top-tier teams; AG Insurance-Soudal, Picnic PostNL, Live AlUla Jayco, Canyon-SRAM Zandocrypto, Lidl-Trek, FDJ-Suez, UAE Team ADQ, Human Powered Health, Cretatizit-WNT, and Uno-X Mobility all committed to going the distance to compete in the first Women’s WorldTour event of the 2025 season.
The route, which starts in Brighton and ends in Stirling, will cater to the climbers with back-to-back climbs over the iconic Willunga Hill as the centre-piece of the three-day event.
Although the peloton will start without defending champion Sarah Gigante, who was forced to skip the race as she recovers from iliac artery surgery, there are plenty of riders to watch in their pursuit of the ochre jersey.
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Neve Bradbury and Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)
Australia’s Neve Bradbury, who went from teenage Zwift Academy winner to ‘world-class’ climber in just four seasons, will be one of the favourites to watch in this edition of the Women’s Tour Down Under.
It was her breakthrough season in 2024 that saw her claim a stage victory and third overall at the Giro d’Italia and a stage win and second at the Tour de Suisse, among many other standout performances.
All of that was ignited by a third place overall at the Tour Down Under, behind winner Gigante and runner-up Nienke Vinke, and she will undoubtedly aim to improve on that performance in front of home crowds.
She lines up with a strong team that includes former time trial World Champion and track racing specialist Chloé Dygert, who was forced to skip the Australian summer racing season last year due to minor injuries. Healthy and ready to start the 2025 season at the Tour Down Under, Dygert will be one to watch for the opening stage in Brighton to Snapper Point.
Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek)
Swapping the colours of SD Worx-Protime for Lidl-Trek in 2025, it will be interesting to watch Niamh Fisher-Black in her first race with her new teammates. The New Zealand rider will likely sit among the field on the opening stage, but breakout alongside the powerful climbers on stage 2’s decisive Willunga Hill.
It will naturally take some time to adapt to her new surroundings at Lidl-Trek, but she will have the experience and support from riders like three-time overall champion Amanda Spratt and Lauretta Hanson.
While racing with SD Worx over the previous four seasons, a team that traditionally opts out of competing in the Australian block, Fisher-Black had some standout moments that included stage wins at the Tour de Suisse and Giro d’Italia, where she finished fifth overall, but she often played a support role for the team’s more consistent performers.
No longer under the shadows of riders like former Tour de France winner Demi Vollering and two-time reigning World Champion Lotte Kopecky, watch for Fisher-Black to set a new benchmark for herself at the Tour Down Under.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Ella Wyllie (Liv AlUla Jayco)
Ruby Roseman-Gannon has a realistic chance of donning the first ochre jersey of the 2025 Women’s Tour Down Under after the opening stage into Snapper Point. The Australian is known for her powerful sprint, but she is a contender on short and steep climbs, too.
After winning two national titles last year, she suffered from the heat at the Tour Down Under which is known for its sweltering conditions. However, her performance trajectory peaked mid-season when she claimed her first WorldTour victory at the Tour of Britain ahead of SD Worx-Protime trio Christine Majerus, Lorena Wiebes and Lotte Kopecky.
She also concluded the season as part of the Australian team that secured victory in the mixed team time trial relay and sixth place in the road race at the Zurich World Championships.
Roseman-Gannon lines up with a strong team that includes newly crowned Australian criterium champion, Amber Pate, and Ella Wyllie, who finished seventh on the Willunga HIll stage and seventh overall in the three-day event last year.
Justine Ghekiere and Alexandra Manly (AG Insurance-Soudal)
Alexandra Manly is also a powerful all-rounder capable of reaping the rewards of having a strong sprint and the ability to climb well. Now racing in the team colours of AG Insurance-Soudal, Manly could bring the team the opening ochre leader’s jersey if she has a winning finish into Snapper Point.
The team is without last year’s overall winner Sarah Gigante, but they have another strong climber in Justine Ghekiere, who made a name for herself at the 2024 Tour de France Femmes where she won the mountain stage 7 into Le Grand Bornand and secured the queen of the mountains polka dot jersey.
One of the most exciting riders to watch, Ghekiere has not yet competed in the Australian summer racing block so it will be somewhat of a test to see how the Belgian rider acclimates to the warm weather in Australia in January.
In addition to the experienced Manly and climber Ghekiere the team also has Julie Van de Velde, who finished eighth overall last year while supporting Gigante to the overall title.
Elise Chabbey and Eglantine Rayer (FDJ-SUEZ)
Elise Chabbey is one of six incoming talents at FDJ-SUEZ, a team that has undergone a major roster transformation with four outgoing riders including Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Marta Cavalli. The Swiss all-rounder joins the team alongside other new signings Demi Vollering, Juliette Labous, Eglantine Rayer and Ally Wollaston.
Although Vollering and Labous won’t start their seasons until next month on European spoil, Chabbey will lead the team at the Tour Down Under with support from climber Rayer and Wollaston.
Wollaston turned heads when she won the opening stage last year and took the event’s first leader’s jersey in Campbelltown, a performance she could repeat in 2025.
However, Chabbey’s talent for breakaways and strength on the climbs make her the team’s best chance for a top place in the overall GC at the Tour Down Under. Her move from Canyon-SRAM to FDJ-SUEZ means that she will have more freedom to take the GC reins in some of the bigger WorldTour events with a stated goal of winning more races.
Kim Cadzow (EF-Oatly-Cannondale)
Kim Cadzow has been a major part of EF-Oatly-Cannondale’s success as a newly launched Continental outfit last season. Her standout performances included sixth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, tenth overall at La Vuelta Femenina, eighth at Tour de Suisse, and the overall title at Trofeo Ponente in Rosa.
The team steps up to the newly introduced second-tier ProTeams in 2025, and Cadzow will begin her season at the Tour Down Under. She will line up with other contenders in Megan Armitage and Noemi Rüegg, but with Cadzow’s strength in time trialling, breakaways and climbing, watch for her to contest stage wins and a top place in the overall GC.
Ruth Edwards (Human Powered Health)
Ruth Edwards returned to full-time racing with Human Powered Health at the beginning of 2024 with standout performances that included a second place at the US National Championships and an overall victory at the Thüringen Ladies Tour.
With one solid season now under her belt, Edwards will undoubtedly aim to raise the bar and return to her pre-retirement form at the Tour Down Under, a race she won in 2020.
She will have support from powerful climber Barbara Malcotti and the pair could form a two-pronged approach on the second day of racing over Willunga Hill. With additional climbing support from Marit Raaijmakers and Silvia Zanardi, watch for Human Powered Health to stand on the overall podium with Edwards.
Dominika Włodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ)
Dominika Włodarczyk had a strong showing at the Tour Down Under last year finishing fifth atop Willunga Hill and fifth overall. In her second season with UAE Team ADQ, the Polish champion will have gained both strength and experience as she pursues a top-three overall in this edition.
UAE Team ADQ has also undergone some significant roster changes this season with the signing of Giro d’Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini, Brodie Chapman and Elynor Backstedt, all coming from Lidl-Trek.
Włodarczyk will join her new teammates later in the season, as UAE Team ADQ have put their support behind her for the Tour Down Under with experienced teammates Elizabeth Holden, Sofia Bertizzolo and Erica Magnaldi.
