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Kirsten Frattini

Absence of Willunga Hill creates wide-open 2026 Women's Tour Down Under – Analysing the contenders

STIRLING, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 19: (L-R) Eleonora Ciabocco of Italy and Team Picnic PostNL - White Best Young Rider Jersey, Noemi Ruegg of Switzerland and Team EF Education-Oatly - Orange Santos Leader's Jersey and Alyssa Polites of Australia and ARA Australian Cycling Team - Polka Dot Mountain Jersey celebrate at podium during the 9th Santos Women's Tour Down Under 2025, Stage 3 a 105.9km stage from Stirling to Stirling 444m / #UCIWWT / on January 19, 2025 in Stirling, Australia. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images).

The 2026 Women's Tour Down Under promises three days of action-packed competition, opening the top-tier racing season from January 17-19 in and around Adelaide, Australia. In the absence of the famed Willunga Hill, this year's race is wide-open for both puncheurs and climbers in pursuit of the ochre jersey.

The route marks the longest so far at 394km, with the racing set to begin with stage 1 in Willunga; however, instead of showcasing the famed longer version of Willunga Hill, the stage will include three trips up a much shorter 475-metre-long lower Willunga climb on the main street in town. The route will cater to the punchy sprinters. Stage 2 from Magill to Paracombe offers another lumpy route and a challenging final circuit.

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