DOWN UNDER FEMMINILE PRESENTAZIONE *** TO BE COMPLETED WITH FAVORITES AND PARTICIPANTS***

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 race 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 away from Brighton Beach and in the first stage will bring the group to the finish line at Snapper Point Aldinga Beach, where Polish rider Daria Pikulik won in a sprint two years ago.

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 Flying Finish 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 by passing the finish line once, and at the sound of the bell, the athletes will face 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'll see Justine Ghekiere starting her third season with the AG Insurance - Soudal jersey. In the Belgian formation, there's also someone who already has three races under her belt, like Anya Louw, capable of reaching the podium in the Australian time trial championship. The 29-year-old from Liv AlUla Jayco, Amber Pate, also stood out in the Australian national event, winning the title in the Criterium and entering the top10 in both the road race and time trial.

Among the Lidl Trek ranks, the captain's role 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's 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 general classification and 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 and ready to put her number back on the Human Powered Health jersey.

In the coming days, we'll have the chance to see two new faces from FDJ - Suez in the race: Elise Chabbey and Ally Wollaston. Coming from Canyon, the Swiss rider could be a protagonist in the Willunga Hill stage, while the New Zealander, former AG Insurance rider, returns to the Tour Down Under where she won last year's first stage in a sprint ahead of Georgia Baker and Sofia Bertizzolo.

THE TEN ITALIANS - We'll start with the Vicenza rider from UAE Team ADQ. As she had anticipated to our Giorgia Monguzzi, Sofia is starting her season in Australia with the hope of "returning to high levels and winning 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 rider, attention is also on another young talent: Sara Fiorin, a 21-year-old sprinter from Lombardy, who moved this year from the UAE development team to the German World Tour team Ceratizit-Wnt.

STARTING LIST

AG Insurance - Soudal Team
1. GHEKIERE Justine
2. LOUW Anya
3. MANLY Alexandra
4. MASETTI Gaia
5. STEIGENGA Nicole
6. VAN DE VELDE Julie

Team Picnic PostNL
11. BADER Silje
12. BARBIERI Rachele
13. CIABOCCO Eleonora
14. NELSON Josie
15. ROLDAN Mara
16. STORRIE Becky

CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto
21. BRADBURY Neve
22. CROMWELL Tiffany
23. DYGERT Chloé
24. MARTINS Maria
25. TOWERS Alice
26. VAN DER DUIN Maike

Liv AlUla Jayco
31. PATE Amber
32. BAKER Georgia
33. TALBOT Josie
34. ROSEMAN-GANNON Ruby
35. WYLLIE Ella
36. SMULDERS Silke

Lidl - Trek
41. COPPONI Clara
42. HANSON Lauretta
43. SHARP Izzy
44. SPRATT Amanda
45. WILSON-HAFFENDEN Felicity
46. FISHER-BLACK Niamh

FDJ - SUEZ
51. CHABBEY Elise
52. DUVAL Eugénie
53. KRAAK Amber
54. LE NET Marie
55. RAYER Eglantine
56. WOLLASTON Ally

UAE Team ADQ
61. BERTIZZOLO Sofia
62. HOLDEN Elizabeth
63. MAGNALDI Erica
64. MARTURANO Greta
65. SWINKELS Karlijn
66. WŁODARCZYK Dominika

Human Powered Health
71. EDWARDS Ruth
72. MALCOTTI Barbara
73. RAAIJMAKERS Marit
74. RAGUSA Katia
75. SCHWEINBERGER Kathrin
76. ZANARDI Silvia

CERATIZIT-WNT Pro Cycling Team
81. ALONSO Sandra
82. BURLOVÁ Kristýna
83. FIORIN Sara
84. HENGEVELD Daniek
85. MIERMONT Dilyxine
86. VAN DAM Sarah

EF-Oatly-Cannondale
91. ARMITAGE Megan
92. CADZOW Kim
93. RÜEGG Noemi
94. ROY Sarah
95. CHRISTIE Henrietta
96. VAN DER WOLF Babette

St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 WE
101. AVOINE Alison
102. RABY Coline
103. NORMAND Adèle
104. SIMPSON Ella
105. FITYUS Lucie
106. WATTS Emily

Team Coop - Repsol
111. DALE Stine
112. GRANGIER India
113. GREENWOOD Monica
114. HAUGSET Sigrid Ytterhus
115. LIND Magdalene
116. MOHR Mari Hole

Uno-X Mobility
121. GREVE Alberte
122. KOSTER Anouska
123. OTTESTAD Mie Bjørndal
124. KOERNER Rebecca
125. BOILARD Simone
126. BEEKHUIS Teuntje

Australia
131. PLOUFFE Maeve
132. EDWARDS Sophie
133. FRAIN Nicole
134. POLITES Alyssa
135. BATES Lauren
136. DIXON Emily