With the imminent return of the road season and WorldTour racing, the start lists for the men's and women's Tour Down Under have been unveiled.
Action kicks off on January 12 with three stages at the women's race and the men's race follows from January 16-21 as the Australian summer racing season reaches its key races.
Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) were the headline starters already announced for the men's race, but they will joined by other big names in Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla), Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty). The latter two are making their debuts at the race.
“We’ve got some of the greatest sprinters of all time in Caleb Ewan and Elia Viviani, and I am particularly excited to see what Julian Alaphilippe does in Adelaide," said Santos Tour Down Under Race Director Stuart O’Grady OAM in a press release.
“He is one of the most electrifying riders in the peloton and I know he will want to leave his mark on the Santos Tour Down Under.
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Defending champion Jay Vine unfortunately won't be returning to fight for the ochre jersey as he turns his focus to the Giro d'Italia and goals later in the 2024 season.
Runner-up in 2023, Yates will lead Jayco AlUla in the GC alongside new singing Luke Plapp after the young Australian talent swapped Ineos Grenadiers for his home side.
Ewan will be the sprint option after returning to Jayco AlUla after five seasons at Lotto-Soudal/Dstny, looking to reignite his sprinting form to the top level that saw him consistently winning Grand Tour stages.
The nine-time stage winner Down Under will have stiff competition from former stage winners Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), with newly transferred Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe) also set to take the start with star leadout rider Danny van Poppel.
The previous three winners of the women's race were already unveiled as returning to the start - Grace Brown (FDJ-SUEZ), Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) and Ruth Edwards (née Winder), who is coming out of retirement in her return to the WWT with Human Powered Health.
They will be joined by a whole host of top talent from the women's peloton as time trial World Champion Chloe Dygert (Canyon SRAM) makes her first appearance at the Tour Down Under since the 2017 edition when it was a 2.2 race.
Brown's teammate Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig will be one of the main threats to the general classification given her ability to perform on a range of parcours be that climbs or in reduced-group sprints, and the Dane will look to get back to her form from the end of the 2023 season.
Australian side Jayco AlUla brings a strong six-woman roster including Alexandra Manly, Ruby Roseman-Gannon and new Kiwi signing Ella Wyllie who finished second in the white jersey competition at the past Tour de France Femmes.
“The women’s peloton also features a record number of teams and international riders, which supports our goal for continued growth in this space," continued O'Grady.
96 riders are set to start the women's race in Hahndorf while 140 men are provisionally down to race on January 16 from Tanunda.
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