When the racing season comes to an end, it seems like a long time until we get the chance to witness more epic battles between cyclists again. However, with a blink of an eye, the 2025 Women's WorldTour racing season is just around the corner, starting with the Women's Tour Down Under on Friday, January, 17, 2025 and crowning the season's first winner on Sunday, January, 19, 2025, in the warmer climates of Adelaide, Australia.
Not only does the Tour Down Under give the Australian riders a chance to race in front of home crowds, but it also allows riders to demonstrate their early form, some of whom are in new teams, and even the opportunity to secure a victory before the Women's WorldTour heads to the Middle East for the Women's UAE Tour, and then, to Europe for the biggest races of the season.
Despite the three-day race securing Women's WorldTour status two years ago in 2023, some of the biggest teams are absent from this year's race, most notably, number one ranked WWT team SD-Worx Protime, who have never made the long-haul flight Down Under. Other teams such as Movistar, Visma-Lease a Bike, and Fenix-Deceuninck are also not attending the first stage race of the season this year. However, despite some of the sport's biggest stars not making their way to Adelaide, there are plenty of exciting riders who will want to make the most out of this opportunity without the peloton's most prolific winners against them.
So, with the 2025 racing season about to get underway, we've taken a closer look at the route and the top contenders for the ochre leader's jersey.
The route
Race map sourced from the Tour Down Under website
Stage one: Brighton to Aldinga - 101.9km
Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula opens the first Women's WorldTour race of the season, with the action starting from the beachside town of Brighton and finishing along the sandy shores of Aldinga. The first of the three stages will travel south down the coast, facing only one category one ascent – Heathersale Hill – which is 9.6km with an average gradient of 3.8%, maxing at 14.4%. This one and only categorised climb will come 50km into the stage, where only a few road undulations follow before a flat run-in to the finish. There are two sprints, too, one at 35km and the other at the 71.1km mark. The finishing sprint in Snapper Point, Aldinga, saw its first fast finish in 2023, with Daria Pikulik taking the spoils, but who will take the win this year? Whoever rides themselves into the leader’s jersey will have to be positioned well, as an exposed finish along the coast means crosswinds could come into play.
Stage two: Unley to Willunga Hill - 115km
The second stage of the Women’s Tour Down Under sees the arrival of the infamous Willunga Hill. The testing 3km-long climb might not be challenging in terms of length, but the average gradient of 7.4%, with a maximum of 15.6%, will separate those with the power to win the stage. Sarah Gigante was crowned queen of Willunga Hill in January last year, but this year, the riders will face the punchy gradients twice, once with the descent before a 22km loop back towards Willunga Hill for a second ascent, where the finish line awaits.
It’s also not the only category one climb throughout the second stage of the Women’s Tour Down Under. From the start line, the women’s peloton will face Windy Point – a 3.8km climb with an average gradient of 6%, maxing out at an eye-watering 20%. Bookended by two leg-burning ascents, the middle of the stage is fairly undulating as they race from Unley to Willunga Hill, with sprint points available at 56.6km and 88.6km.
Stage three: Stirling to Stirling - 105.9km
The third and final stage of the race will see the women’s peloton race a loop, starting and finishing in Stirling, to be completed five-and-a-half times. Over the 105km-long stage, there will be two sprint opportunities for those vying for the sprint classification – one comes 45km into the stage and the other after 66km. The winner of this stage will most likely also be a sprinter or a rider who has power over lumpy terrain, which means that those in the battle for the general classification need to be aware of bonus seconds (16 in total) up for grabs at the finish in Stirling. The sprinters, however, will also need to be careful as it is not a flat stage by any means, with two ascents up the category three climb in Stirling, as well as a day of small, relentless ups and downs. Will the stage two winner hold on to the leader’s jersey, or will we see a change of hands?
Contenders
Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance–Soudal Team)
The 2024 Tour de France Femmes and Giro d’Italia Women Queen of the Mountains winner will be, for the first time, making her way down under to participate in the three-day race. The Belgian rider had an impressive 2024 season, demonstrating her prowess against the gradients. Her last stage race was the Tour de France Femmes in August before she finished her season with two more races – St Feullien Grand Prix de Wallonie (fifth place) and the World Championships road race (seventh place). So, her form going into the 2025 season is relatively unknown, but if she can still pack a punch on the climbs, we could see a rider like Ghekiere shine on Willunga Hill. She’ll also be supported by former Tour Down Under stage winner, Alex Manly, Anya Louw, Gaia Masetti, Nicole Steigenga and Julie Van de Velde, a rider who came eighth on the GC last year.
Neve Bradbury (Canyon//SRAM)
Canyon//SRAM have a few riders who they’ll be hoping can take some early victories at the Tour Down Under, including Adelaide rider Tiffany Cromwell and Olympic gold medallist Chloé Dygert. However, Neve Bradbury will be a good bet for their GC hopes. She had an impressive race in Australia last year, placing third on the GC and third on the final stage atop Willunga Hill. The rest of her 2024 season was just as impressive, with a string of strong results which saw her second at the UAE Tour, second at the Tour de Suisse with a stage win and the youth classification, and third at the Giro d’Italia Women with a stage win (atop the mighty Blockhaus) and youth classification title also. Last year was a breakthrough season for Bradbury, so it’ll be exciting to see what she can unleash over these three days of racing.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Luv Alula Jayco)
Ruby Roseman-Gannon will be opening her 2025 season on home soil, leading her Liv Jayco Alula team in the quest to take a stage win in her home race as the Australian national champion. She saw her first Women’s WorldTour victory in 2024 at the Tour of Britain, beating Christine Majerus, Lorena Wiebes and Lotte Kopecky to take the stage win. However, the rest of her season was a mixed bag of results with a few top 10 finishes until the backend of the season, where she placed sixth in the world championship road race and 12th overall at the Simac Ladies Tour. The Australian national champ will hope to pick up where she left off and will be looking to take something away from this race, whether that is a stage win or a top 10 placing on the GC, bettering her 14th place finish from 2024.
Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek)
The three-time Tour Down Under champion Amanda Spratt will be back on home turf, looking to start her season off with a bang. The Australian rider placed fourth in 2024’s edition, 37 seconds behind the overall winner, Sarah Gigante. But despite her last victory at the race being in 2019, Spratt has always performed well here, placing third in 2020, second in 2023 and fourth in 2024. She’ll be hoping to get back to her glory days by winning the overall race, but a step back onto the podium will also be a great achievement for the 37-year-old rider. Lidl-Trek also have Niamh Fisher-Black on their roster and this will be her first race in the blue, red and yellow kit after moving from SD-Worx Protime. She may use this race to settle into racing with her new team, or maybe they’ll use this early opportunity to showcase their new talent – she is certainly capable of dominating over this type of terrain and has always been an active rider.
Noemi Rüegg (EF-Oatly-Cannondale)
The 23-year-old Swiss rider could be a contender for stage wins and a good placing on the GC in Australia. She was 11th in the European and World Championships road race in 2024 and had a consistent year in terms of placings. She excels over punchy terrain and could be a rider suited to the demands of stage three, so we expect to see her racing quite aggressively on the final day. Rüegg is yet to secure a Women’s WorldTour victory, but this three-day stage race might allow her to open her 2025 season with just that. The American squad will also have Kim Cadzow, a punchy rider who came sixth in the 2024 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Megan Armitage, Sarah Roy, Henrietta Christie and Babette van der Wolf on their roster of riders.
Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez)
Ally Wollaston will make her first appearance with FDJ-Suez after moving from AG Insurance–Soudal Team. The 24-year-old rider won the opening sprint stage last year and could be a firm contender once again for the opening stage of this year’s edition. The team will also be bringing Elisa Chabbey to the three-day race and she will be a strong option for FDJ-Suez in the general classification battle. Both the riders will be supported by Eugénie Duval, Amber Kraak, Marie le Net and Eglantine Rayer.
Other contenders
For UAE Team ADQ, Karlijn Swinkels will be a strong contender for the overall title. Her first season with the UAE team saw her level of performance increase, especially in the spring Classics, and she finished 2024 off on a high with sixth place on the GC at the Simac Ladies Tour. UAE Team ADQ also have last year's Tour Down Under points classification winner Sofia Bertizzolo, who will no doubt be looking to retain her title in the sprints. Katrin Schweinberger and Ruth Edwards will be riders for Human Powered Health on the hunt for early stage wins and even a top-10 result on the general classification. Edwards won the overall back in 2020 before she took two years out from the Women's WorldTour and returned to the race last year. She'll be looking to better her 16th place finish from 2024 and aim for a higher finish more reflective of her 2020 form. Other riders such as Mie Bjørndal Ottestad (Uno-X Mobility), Silke Smulders (Liv Alula Jayco), and Rachele Barbieri (Team Picnic PostNL) will all be ones to watch in this opening race.
Women's Tour Down Under 2025 prediction
We think that Neve Bradbury will take the overall win at the race in Australia, opening her season with a GC title and setting the tone for her season ahead.
