{"id":9091,"date":"2026-01-26T09:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T08:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/?p=9091"},"modified":"2026-02-03T09:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:47:17","slug":"jay-vine-beats-the-heat-and-survives-kangaroo-attack-to-win-santos-tour-down-under","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2026\/01\/26\/jay-vine-beats-the-heat-and-survives-kangaroo-attack-to-win-santos-tour-down-under\/","title":{"rendered":"Jay Vine Beats the Heat and Survives Kangaroo Attack to Win Santos Tour Down Under"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG) overcame searing heat, two wayward kangaroos, and a lot of team misfortunes to take a dominant victory in the Santos Tour Down Under, the second time the Aussie has won his home race after also grabbing a win in 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The decisive stage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The race was pretty much decided on the second ascent of the Corkscrew climb (3.6 km @ 6.7%) of Thursday\u2019s stage 2, 148.1 km from Norwood to\u00a0Uraidla, when Adam Yates attacked the peloton, giving Vine a perfect platform to attack alone. He was eventually joined by defending champion and UAE teammate Jhonathan Narv\u00e1ez. The two were co-favourites and clearly the best riders in the race \u2013 and in sports, the best usually wins.<\/p>\n

They rode together and slowly increased their lead over a chasing group of eight riders. They crossed the line 58 seconds ahead of the chase group, from which Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) finished third. Because of the bonus points, Vine had the GC lead by 6 seconds over his teammate, with Schmid in third, at 1:06. Vine was then asked if the race was over.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything can happen,\u201d Vine said with a laugh, according to\u00a0Cyclingnews<\/em>.<\/em><\/a> \u201cBut yeah, it\u2019s really good to have such a big lead compared to my last tour. It\u2019s a lot more secure, and we also got Jhonny in second now, so we\u2019ve got a very strong position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vine said he slowed the pace a little on the climb to allow Narv\u00e1ez to stay with him, explaining: \u201cI\u2019m not going to drop my teammate for no reason.\u201d He went on to say: \u201cIt\u2019s better to have two guys a minute clear of the rest of the group. We\u2019ve got some really demanding stages still to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such as stage 4, for example, which included three ascents of the legendary Willunga Hill climb. But those three climbs were scratched from the course due to temperatures of up to 43\u00b0 Celsius (109.4\u00b0F) and the extreme risk of fire. Also, due to the heat, the stage started an hour earlier than scheduled, at 10:10 a.m. local time. Unfortunately for Narv\u00e1ez and the team, he crashed heavily early on the stage and had to abandon.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Santos Tour Down Under (@tourdownunder)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n