ANALYSIS: Three debuts set to shape the 2026 Tour Down Under as new faces arrive on the WorldTour stage

Next Tuesday, 20 January, the Santos Tour Down Under will get underway, the race that opens the WorldTour season every year. It takes place in Australia and will keep us busy until Sunday, the 25th.

It is a race for puncheurs: fast riders who handle rolling terrain well and can still beat the best climbers in a final sprint.

As with every edition, there will be several storylines to follow, with both riders and teams worth keeping an eye on.

Below, we will analyse some of them, such as Haimar Etxeberria’s debut with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, Pavel Novak’s with Movistar Team, and the first appearance of the new NSN Cycling Team, in which Andres Iniesta is a shareholder.

The Basque rider is a very complete cyclist who could shine in this type of race. Coming from Equipo Kern Pharma, he is fresh from a solid and promising 2025 season. At 22 years of age, he started the year with 20th place at the Gran Premio Castellon – Ruta de la Ceramica, 128th at the Classica Comunitat Valenciana, 57th at the Trofeo Calvia and 11th at the Trofeo Ses Salines.

After that, he ran into some problems. He did not finish the Trofeo Serra Tramuntana or the GP La Marseillaise, before taking 16th at the Clasica de Almeria and then abandoning again at the Clasica Jaen. He was 15th at the Cholet Agglo Tour, but could not even start the Roue Tourangelle Centre Val de Loire and abandoned Paris – Camembert.

At Itzulia, on home roads, he finished 30th on his best stage, 96th overall and a very respectable 12th in the young riders’ classification. In the spring and summer classics, his results were mixed. He did not finish the Ronde van Limburg, Fleche Ardennaise, Tro-Bro Leon, Brussels Cycling Classic, Antwerp Port Epic or La Polynormande.

However, he was 47th at the Brabantse Pijl, 14th at the Boucles de l’Aulne, 94th at the GP du Morbihan, 133rd at the Heistse Pijl, 14th at the Classica Terres de l’Ebre, 8th at the Prueba Villafranca, and he won the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, which was his first and so far only professional victory. He was also 4th at the Circuito de Getxo and 8th at the Circuit Franco-Belge.

To finish the season, he was 12th at the Tour du Limousin, with 11th as his best stage result and 6th in the young riders’ classification. He finished 20th at the GP Industria & Artigianato, 14th at the Coppa Sabatini, abandoned the Memorial Marco Pantani, was 17th at the Trofeo Matteotti, 18th at Paris–Chaunay, 5th at the Tour de Vendee, 65th at the Giro del Veneto and did not take part in the Veneto Classic, which he had been scheduled to ride.

The 21-year-old Czech rider split his 2025 season between smaller races with MBH Bank Ballan CSB and under-23 events. He began with 50th place at the Firenze–Empoli Memorial Renzo Maltinti, abandoned the Trofeo Laigueglia and the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali after taking 32nd on his best stage, was 40th at the Trofeo Piva and 34th at the Giro della Citta Metropolitana di Reggio Calabria.

After that, he was 54th at the Giro d’Abruzzo, with 29th on his best stage, 22nd in the mountains classification and 36th among the young riders. He left Italy with 10th place at the Trofeo Zanotti Mobili, before returning to his home country to finish 2nd at Krasna Lipa and 16th at Ceska Kamenice. Back in Italy, he was 7th at the Memorial Daniele Tortoli.

At the Tour of Hungary, he was an impressive 6th overall, 4th on his best stage, 13th in the points classification and 10th in the mountains. At the Giro d’Italia Next Gen, he took 5th and 3rd on two stages, won a stage, finished 3rd overall to step onto the podium, was 7th in the points classification and 2nd best climber.

At the Czech National Championships, he did not finish the under-23 race and did not start the elite race, for which he had been entered. He was 32nd at the Giro del Medio Brenta, did not start stage three of the Giro Ciclistico della Valle d’Aosta – Mont Blanc, won Bassano–Montegrappa and was 2nd at the GP Capodarco Comunita di Capodarco.

To round off his season, he abandoned the GP Industria & Artigianato and was 51st at the Turul Romaniei in Romania. At the same time, he finished 18th in the mountains classification, 25th among the young riders and 43rd in the points classification, with 11th as his best stage result.

The new team, which replaces Israel – Premier Tech in the WorldTour, will race in Australia with New Zealander George Bennett as leader and a line-up full of local riders: Simon Clarke, Brady Gilmore and Nick Schultz. There will also be a compatriot of the team leader, Corbin Strong, and two Britons, Jake Stewart and Ethan Vernon.

They have clear profiles to fight for stage wins. Bennett and Clarke could be involved in the general classification, Gilmore and Schultz will have more secondary roles and will be responsible for the hard work during stages: helping the leaders, setting the pace in the peloton, dropping back for bottles, and so on. Meanwhile, Strong, Stewart and Vernon are clear candidates to win on almost any day.

This will be the first time we see this jersey in action in competition. Many more races are planned for them throughout the season, but the first will be the Santos Tour Down Under.