Welsford wins in opening stage Tour Down Under, Visma talent Brennan falls just short

Sam Welsford won the first stage of the Tour Down Under. The Australian of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, accountable for three stage wins last year and also the winner of the criterium before the stage race, outsprinted Visma | Lease a Bike-Brit Matthew Brennan and Matthew Walls (Groupama-FDJ). Welsford, who got a perfect lead-out by Danny van Poppel, is also logically the first leader.

The Tour Down Under is already heading into edition 24 but still found a new finish location. For the first time in history, Gumeracha was the finish for a stage in the WorldTour race, with a climb through the Adelaide Hills. The riders started in Prospect, a suburb of Adelaide.

Two riders were already absent following a crash in the criterium. It was very unfortunate for home rider Miles Scotson of Arkéa —B&B Hotels, but Manuele Moro (Movistar) was forced back on the plane to Spain without riding an official race kilometer. He was struggling with shoulder problems that prevented him from competing in the stages of the Tour Down Under.

Anyway, after some problems from defending champion Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) in the neutralization, we were ready to go. Soon, a leading group of four riders formed: Fergus Browning and Zac Marriage on behalf of the Australian selection were joined by Norwegian Martin Tjotta (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) and Bastien Tronchon of Decathlon AG2R. The latter grabbed bonus seconds and then dropped back to the peloton.

Read more below the photo!

Narváez secures already important seconds, crash Van Baarle

The stage included several passes over Berry Hill, where Browning took the mountain points and, thus, the mountain jersey. There was also some scrambling regarding the remaining bonification seconds in the peloton behind. Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Emirates XRG) outsprinted Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) in that battle for a few seconds, which could be important later in the race.

The peloton picked up the pace in the final 20 kilometers, with the breakaway riders logically proving to be easy targets. During this phase, Geraint Thomas had problems with his bike, eventually costing him 3.25 minutes and, thus, a possible GC. During the bunch sprint preparations, a big crash affected Australian champion Luke Durbridge and, unfortunately, Dylan van Baarle.

Of course, the sprinters in front didn't wait for them. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe had top favorite Welsford in its ranks and got things going most effectively, with another crucial role for Van Poppel. The Dutch rider did the perfect lead-out for his sprinter, who could sprint freely for the final hundreds of meters to the finish. Brennan got a good start on behalf of Visma | Lease a Bike but fell just short.

Results Stage 1 Tour Down Under 2025

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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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