Tour Down Under confirm presence of Australian figures Michael Matthews, Ben O'Connor and Simon Clarke
Cycling
Simon Clarke, Ben O'Connor and Michael Matthews will all be at the Tour Down Under's start line. Recently, the organisation announced Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, and Simon Yates would take part in the event.
Matthews last raced in the event in 2014 as he decided to shift focus on the European races but now the Australian is ready to ride in front of his home crowd. His only victory in the event came in 2011, when he won the third stage.
For Simon Clarke, it will be his twelfth time participating in the tour. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, Ben O'Connor has already participated in the ride, and he is looking forward to demonstrating his superior performance.
Race Director Stuart O’Grady is very pleased with the news and hopes this will motivate the home crowd. “We have watched these riders doing amazing things on the world stage for the past few years so it will be exciting for Australian fans to see them up close in January. “It’s really important to have these local role models to show the next generation of Australian cyclists that this is a dream they can chase,” concluded O’Grady.
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- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Australian stars set to kick off their 2023 season in front of a home crowd 🤩👉 tourdownunder.com.au/blog-articles/…
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