Results Tour Down Under 2026 | Victory for INEOS at opening Adelaide prologue as Sam Watson beats Ethan Vernon
CyclingTuesday, 20 January 2026 at 10:56
INEOS Grenadiers have come out on top on the opening day of the 2026 World Tour calendar. Samuel Watson was the main favourite to win the prologue of the Tour Down Under in the city of Adelaide, and he delivered as he brought in INEOS Grenadiers' first win of the year.
The 3.6-kilometer route was raced on road bikes, providing a different challenge than most are used to. It was an effort of just over 4 minutes for the riders who rode through the streets of Adelaide one minute at a time. The strongest men on the day were all figures that were expected to be near the top.
Laurence Pithie finished third on the day, 2 seconds behind early starter Sam Watson who was already heavily hinted to be the first rider to succeed in the race. The puncheur thrived in the technical course and managed to take the win with less than 1 second over Ethan Vernon.
Jay Vine and Mauro Schmid, only 4 seconds behind Watson, were the best positioned GC candidates on the day. Stage 1 tomorrow into Tanunda will be a stage suited to the sprinters, where bonifications can already change the owner of the ochre jersey.
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- Weird take. Just because something isn't the same, or as nice, doesn't mean people don't wish it was, and try to fix things. That's like saying "Oh he doesn't have a university education, he must not want one".antipodeanpedalfan20-01-2026
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Brucegel19-01-2026 - I'd love to see them both on track! Or, perhaps doing a crit. That would be interesting. Though I doubt it will ever happen.nowave719-01-2026
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- hope he gets his monument soonmij19-01-2026
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PAULO19-01-2026 - Yes, that's true... but would Pogi be as good as he is if he was never on the UAE team? I don't think so. They have one of the best trainers-Javier Sola and on of the best PhD professors for nutrition and data analysts.NikkoNicco19-01-2026
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