Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Welsford series breaks: Andresen wins first bunch sprint
Sebastian Lindner
· 21.01.2026
After almost 121 kilometres, Andresen benefited in Tanunda, just north of Adelaide, above all from the strong preparatory work of his lead-out rider Tord Gudmestad. The Norwegian outsprinted the entire INEOS train, among others. The British team was still four at the front of the peloton at the 1000 metre mark, but then lost control after doing most of the work chasing down the breakaway all day. Andresen, although not the fastest finisher on the day, only had to come into the wind 200 metres from the finish and defended his lead ahead of Brennan, Welsford and Danny van Poppel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe). Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl - Trek) finished ninth and best German in the top 10, just like in the prologue.
Andresen was unable to do so, but the time credit of ten seconds was still enough for the 23-year-old to knock one second off the top spot in the overall standings from the opening winner Samuel Watson (INEOS Grenadiers). "It's an incredible feeling to win. I honestly can't remember the last time I felt like this. It's just incredible," said the Dane, who is only the second professional from his country to win a stage at the Tour Down Under. The first was Nicolaj Larsen - he won the opening stage of the first ever edition of the race in 1999.
"The bike is incredibly fast and my team-mates did an excellent job today. It's not often that you can implement a plan so precisely, but we did it today," Andresen continued. With the eighth victory of his career, he also took the lead in the points classification.
Tour Down Under 2026 - Results stage 1
Stage 1: Tanunda - Tanunda
Santos Tour Down Under 2026: Stage 1, Tanunda - Tanunda
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decathlon CMA CGM Team | 02:42:41 |
| 2 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | +00:00:00 |
| 3 | INEOS Grenadiers | +00:00:00 |
| 4 | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | +00:00:00 |
| 5 | NSN Cycling Team | +00:00:00 |
| 6 | Australia | +00:00:00 |
How the 1st stage of the Tour Down Under 2026 went
Martin Urianstad Bugge from Team Uno-X Mobility, which has just been awarded its first WorldTour licence for the new season, launched the first attack after the start in Tanunda in perfect conditions. He was followed first by Guillaume Martin (Groupama - FDJ), then Marco Brenner (Tudor Pro Cycling Team). But the trio didn't get far, as the early bonus sprint after just over ten kilometres was in the interest of the pros behind them. Knowing full well that in previous years it was only seconds that decided the overall victory, last year's winner Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) secured three seconds there.
Once the situation had calmed down, Urianstad Bugge went on the offensive again. And Martin joined him again, this time with the support of his team-mate. This time, the breakaway's lead quickly grew to over two minutes. After around 30 kilometres, the leaders reached the circuit over Menglers Hill, which had to be completed three times. Two more intermediate sprints awaited between the mountain classifications on the biggest challenge of the day. Martin had his sights set on these, while Urianstad Bugge secured all 15 points at the mountain classifications and thus also took the first classification jersey in this category.
If Martin dropped out of the lead after the sprints, Urianstad Bugge did the same after the last mountain classification. Paleni was left behind and fought on until seven kilometres before the finish, but was then caught by the peloton and the ambitious sprinter teams.
