SANTOS WOMEN'S TOUR DOWN UNDER. THREE STAGES, 323 KILOMETERS AND 10 ITALIANS AT THE START: FRIDAY KICKS OFF
WOMEN | 15/01/2025 | 08:18 di Luca Galimberti Less than three months after the victory where Sandra Alonso beat Giada Borghesi in the Tour of Guangxi, the Women World Tour is ready to restart. The ninth edition of the Santos Women's Tour Down Under, the first stage competition of 2025, will kick off on Friday, January 17th and will engage athletes in three stages covering a total of 323 kilometers. The race, won twelve months ago by Sarah Gigante with a 20" advantage over young Dutch rider Nienke Vinke and Neve Bradbury in third place, will this year open just steps from Brighton beach and in the first stage will bring the group to the finish line at Snapper Point Aldinga Beach, where two years ago Polish rider Daria Pikulik won in a sprint. On the second day, riders will pedal for a long time surrounded by vineyards. The 115-kilometer stage will start from Unley and will be decided at the top of Willunga Hill. The "hill" won't be the only difficulty of the day, as about ten kilometers after the start, the group will face a first climb at Windy Point (3km ascent at 5.9% gradient) followed by continuous ups and downs that will lead through the McLaren Vale "circuit" and the Intermediate Sprint at McLaren Flat, to be tackled first after 56 kilometers and a second time at kilometer 88. They will then pass through Willunga, climbing towards the finish area passing the finish line once, and at the sound of the bell, the athletes will tackle the last 22 kilometers battling to conquer a prestigious stage victory. The third and final stage is scheduled for Sunday, January 19th with start and finish in Stirling, in the Adelaide hinterland. The stage will be characterized by a circuit of about 25 kilometers that the competitors will have to face five times before the finish. Only then will we know who will be the winner of the 2025 Santos Women's Tour Down Under. Sarah Gigante, still recovering after her iliac artery surgery in early December, will not defend her title, and so with number one on her back we will see Justine Ghekiere starting her third season with the AG Insurance - Soudal jersey. In the Belgian formation, there is also someone who already has three races under her belt, like Anya Louw, capable of reaching the podium in the Australian time trial championship. In the national Australian event, the 29-year-old from Liv AlUla Jayco, Amber Pate, also stood out, winning the title in the Criterium and entering the top10 in both the road race and time trial. Among the Lidl Trek ranks, captain honors should go to Amanda Spratt, winner of three editions of the Santos Women's Tour Down Under and coming off a seventh place in the national road championship. There is also curiosity to see two young riders in action: Izzy Sharp, at her first seasonal appearance, and Felicity Wilson-Haffenden, U23 national time trial runner-up. Neve Bradbury will start her 2025 competitive season from South Australia. The 22-year-old CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto rider, third in last year's final general classification and then winner of the white jersey at the Giro d'Italia Women, will certainly want to be a protagonist this season and can count on teammates like her compatriot Tiffany Cromwell and American Chloé Dygert. Speaking of Americans, keep an eye on Ruth Edwards, winner of the Tour Down Under in 2020, ready to put the number back on the Human Powered Health jersey. In the coming days, we'll have the opportunity to see two new faces from FDJ - Suez in action: Elise Chabbey and Ally Wollaston. Coming from Canyon, the Swiss rider could be a protagonist in the Willunga Hill stage, while the New Zealander, formerly of AG Insurance, returns to the Tour Down Under where last year she won the first stage in a sprint ahead of Georgia Baker and Sofia Bertizzolo. THE TEN ITALIANS - We'll start with the Vicenza native from UAE Team ADQ. As she had anticipated to our Giorgia Monguzzi, Sofia will begin her season in Australia hoping to "return to high levels and win a World Tour race". The Emirates formation will also line up Erica Magnaldi and Greta Marturano at the start of the Santos Women's Tour Down Under, the latter at her first official outing with the new jersey. Human Powered Health has also bet on a tricolor trio for the Australian trip, composed of Barbara Malcotti, Katia Ragusa, and Silvia Zanardi. They have chosen the Tour Down Under to start their 2025 competitive season, along with European Mixed Relay champion Gaia Masetti, in the AG Insurance - Soudal jersey, and Team Picnic PostNL riders Rachele Barbieri and Eleonora Ciabocco. Besides the Marche region rider, attention is also on another young talent: Sara Fiorin, a 21-year-old Lombard sprinter, who moved this year from the UAE development team to the German World Tour team Ceratizit-Wnt. THE PARTICIPANTS
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