{"id":204567,"date":"2026-01-17T09:55:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=204567"},"modified":"2026-01-17T09:55:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:55:56","slug":"narvaez-vine-lead-uae-at-santos-tour-down-under-while-ruegg-is-favoured-to-repeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/01\/17\/narvaez-vine-lead-uae-at-santos-tour-down-under-while-ruegg-is-favoured-to-repeat\/","title":{"rendered":"Narv\u00e1ez, Vine Lead UAE at Santos Tour Down Under, While R\u00fcegg Is Favoured to Repeat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WorldTour season begins more or less officially on January 17, with the first stage of the Santos Women\u2019s Tour Down Under, raced over a slightly lumpy course in and around the Australian town of Willunga. All 14 WorldTour teams are taking part for the first time this year, which means that there should be lots of action and that predicting a winner will take a Ouija board or a lucky guess.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Will it be a R\u00fcegg repeat?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With stage 2 being just a bit lumpier than the opener (though it has a tough final km that will separate the wheat from the sprinters), the decision will almost certainly be made on the final stage, 126.5 km from Norwood to Campbelltown, specifically on the final of two ascents of the race\u2019s biggest and steepest hill, the category 1 climb to Corkscrew Road (2.5 km @ 8.3%).<\/p>\n

The gradient suggests it will be won by a climber, especially since it features ramps up to nearly 17%. But that final climb will be followed by a tricky 5 km descent to the finish line, which offers the opportunity for some technically gifted riders distanced on the climb to come back to the front.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s winner, 24-year-old Noemi R\u00fcegg (EF Education\u2013Oatly), is back and has a wonderful support rider in reigning world road race champion Magdeleine Vallieres. At least I think that\u2019s how the team will play it, with R\u00fcegg trying to defend her title and her Canadian teammate looking for bigger challenges down the road, such as one of the Ardennes Classics<\/a>. The defending champion won last year\u2019s race by being the best climber on the last ascent (of two) of Willunga Hill on stage 2, a climb similar in gradient and distance to the Corkscrew Hill ascent they will climb this year instead. So she will presumably start as the favourite.<\/p>\n

I was very impressed by Dominika W\u0142odarczyk (UAE Team ADQ) in last year\u2019s Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, where she finished fourth. She won\u2019t be facing riders of the calibre of the three who beat her in France, so if the 24-year-old Polish rider is in form, she will have a big chance. W\u0142odarczyk also finished fourth in last year\u2019s Tour Down Under and fifth the year before, so she looks ready, at age 24, to go up another level and pick up a big early-season win. And she has top-flight support in Brodie Chapman, Mavi Garc\u00eda, Erica Magnaldi, and Paula Blasi.<\/p>\n

Other potential winners include Neve Bradbury (Canyon\u2013Sram zondacrypto) and 21-year-old Marion Bunel (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike). And could local heroine Amanda Spratt (Lidl\u2013Trek) win her fourth Down Under title at age 38, in the final season of her career?<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Human Powered Health Cycling (@hphcycling)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n