2025 season commences as squad announced for Tour Down Under

UAE Team Emirates is pleased to announce its seven-rider strong squad for the first WorldTour race of the season, as the UCI WorldTour’s No.1 ranked team heads to Australia for the Santos Tour Down Under (21-26 Jan).

As is tradition, the 25th edition of the Tour Down Under will be raced in and around the city of Adelaide, with the first stage kicking off from Prospect on 21 January. Six stages long in total, the Tour Down Under will likely be decided on the iconic Willunga Hill on stage 5, but opportunities await for both puncheurs and sprinters alike throughout the course of the race. 

This race was won by UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Jay Vine in 2023, and the Australian climber is back for more this time around. 

Having recovered from a devastating crash at the Itzulia Basque Country last spring, Vine ended the 2024 campaign in fine form, winning both the King of the Mountains Classification at the Vuelta a España and the Mixed Relay TTT with his Australian compatriots at the UCI Road World Championships in Zürich. 

Vine: “I’m really looking forward to the race. I had a really good summer of preparation in Australia and excited to get back to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under, a place where I have some amazing memories. We have a really strong team for the race and are aiming for some big results.”

Looking to perform strongly on home turf once more, VIne will be joined in Australia by recent Vuelta a España stage winner Marc Soler (Spa), Olympic gold medalist Rui Oliveira (Por), and four riders making their WorldTour debuts for UAE Team Emirates-XRG: Rune Herregodts (Bel), Julius Johansen (Den), Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu), and Pablo Torres (Spa). 

The team will be guided by Sports Director Fabio Baldato (Ita) and the seven-rider group will also take to the start of the Villawood Men’s Classic on Saturday 18 January.