Favorites stage 2 Tour Down Under 2025 | Already the perfect opportunity for 19-year-old Brennan?

The first significant race is behind us, and the men's WorldTour season has begun. Sam Welsford could call himself the lucky winner of the first stage of the Tour Down Under on behalf of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, as he did last season, but he can immediately expect a tough job defending his ochre jersey in stage two. IDLProCycling.com shows you what to expect!

Route Stage 2 Tour Down Under 2025

Day two of the Tour Down Under focuses on Tanunda, a place we've visited many times before in the Tour Down Under. In the 2025 edition, it is the start and finish location of a 128.8-kilometer stage, in which Menglers Hill has to be conquered three times from the challenging side. And that could make for another incredible race scenario.

This 2.8-kilometer climb at 6.6 percent average looms right from the start and is then dealt with twice more, with one final time at twenty kilometers from the finish. Then it's downhill back to Tanunda, where Sam Welsford and Phil Bauhaus won the last two seasons.

Although the riders climbed the mountain from the easier side last time, the big question now is: Who can hold their own on this more difficult side?

Climbs
7.0 km: Menglers Hill (2.8 km a 6.6%)
57.0 km: Menglers Hill (2.8 km a 6.6%)
107.0 km: Menglers Hill (2.8 km a 6.6%)

Times
Start: 7:40 PM EST
Finish: 10:57 PM EST

Weather Stage 2 Tour Down Under 2025 

The Australian summer does not disappoint in 2025, either. On Wednesday, temperatures will be around 28 degrees Down Under, which means nice cycling weather.

Favorites Stage 2 Tour Down Under 2025

2.8 kilometers of climbing at 6.6 percent is already a tough job for someone like Sam Welsford. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe sprinter will have to work hard to survive Menglers Hill. However, this is not necessarily a disaster for his team, as they have another good sprinter, Laurence Pithie, who is certainly a good climber.

Another rider who rides well uphill is Matthew Brennan of Visma | Lease a Bike. The young Brit has undoubtedly made a good start on behalf of the Dutch team and, if he hasn't already done so, could reap the benefits on Wednesday. In the same line of better climbing sprinters, we also include Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R), and Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL).

It is also possible that some teams want to show themselves and make it an actual race. Jhonatan Narváez (UAE-Emirates XRG) and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) competed for bonus seconds along the way on Tuesday, and neither had a real sprinter on board. At the same time, Bastien Tronchon (Decathlon AG2R) clarified his intentions from the early break. And then guys like Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) should also be included in that scenario.

Lidl-Trek has two top talents, Tim Torn Teutenberg and Albert Withen Philipsen, who will compete in this stage, where the most logical scenario might still be a sprint. In the case of a big group, in addition to Welsford, we expect Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Matthew Walls (Groupama-FDJ), and Simon Dehairs of Alpecin-Deceuninck. It is already evident that securing this victory will be a fierce battle.

Favorites Stage 2 Tour Down Under 2025, according to IDLProCycling.com

Top favorites: Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech)
Outsiders: Sam Welsford, Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Jhonatan Narváez (UAE-Emirates XRG)
Long shots: Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech), Simon Dehairs (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R), Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL) and Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek)

Read also

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Want to know when and where the most exciting races of 2025 will take place? Check out our updated 2025 cycling calendars for the men's and women's peloton!

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