"Winning at home is my goal" - Jay Vine takes holeshot for Tour Down Under GC win

The prologue of the Tour Down Under proved to be profitable for UAE Team Emirates - XRG, who entered the race in position to win the overall classification after Jay Vine and Jhonatan Narváez put on a strong performance in Adelaide, and the former has put in time already on every single one of his rivals.

"It's always special to wear the green and gold national champion's jersey, especially in a World Tour race in my own country. The last time I wore this jersey was in 2023. Winning at home is my goal again this week," Vine said in a post-race interview. Vine was the last rider off the start ramp, departing with the number 6 on his back as the Emirati team is currently defending the title. As it stands, it is realistic that the triumph can be repeated.

Whilst the differences were never going to be big in the 3.6-kilometer long effort, any time can be valuable in the six-day race, which lacks mountains and is often decided by bonus seconds. Vine has hence gotten ahead of the competition, putting in 4 seconds on Luke Plapp, whilst Narváez only lost 1 more. However other riders have already lost a bit more to the Australian, winner of the Tour Down Under in 2023.

"I'm very happy to have been able to put in a good effort; it allows me to create a gap on the general classification contenders. I feel really competitive, and I'm ready for the mountains coming up this week," he continued. The outlook for UAE is bright after the first day of racing, but it is only a warm-up for what's to come. "It's very good, we haven't lost any time to our rivals, Jonny and I are very close, we're going to try for bonus seconds, take some attacking tactical options."