The 2024 UCI WorldTour’s first events in Oceania crowned Stephen Williams (Israel - Premier Tech), winner of the Santos Tour Down Under, and Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ), who claimed the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
The world's road cycling elite were in Australia to kick off the 2024 UCI WorldTour season. Under the January sun, the Santos Tour Down Under and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race deliver their share of surprises and excitement every year – and this season was no exception.
With his victory in the Santos Tour Down Under, Great Britain's Stephen Williams (Israel - Premier Tech) added a first UCI WorldTour stage race to his list of victories. One week later, in Geelong, New Zealander Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) claimed the biggest win of his young career, at the age of 21.
🟠 STEEEEVIE!!! 🟠
— Israel – Premier Tech (@IsraelPremTech) January 21, 2024
🏆 Stevie Williams wins the final stage and the @tourdownunder GC!
What an amazing ride all week by the team to secure IPT’s first WorldTour stage race win 👏#TourDownUnder #YallaIPT pic.twitter.com/6cnKYJtOAR
Santos Tour Down Under: a race packed with sensations
Known for his punchy abilities, Williams, 27, a former footballer born in Wales, made a stunning surge to the front by showing himself to be the most consistent rider on the steep terrain of the Adelaide region.
With a course perfectly suited for sprinters, stage 1 was marked by the victory of Sam Welsford (Bora - Hansgrohe), put into orbit by his ‘pilot-fish’, Danny van Poppel, in Tanunda.
The following day, on a hillier course, the talented Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) sent out a strong message to the world of cycling. Winner of the 2023 Tour de l'Avenir, the Mexican neo-pro upset the peloton with a blistering attack 1km from the finish in Lobethal, taking the lead in the overall classification in the process.
With 1km to go Isaac del Toro makes a final attack, and takes out the Men’s efex Stage 2 for UAE Team Emirates 🥇@efex_IT | @Santosltd | #TourDownUnder
— Santos Tour Down Under 🚴🚴♀️ (@tourdownunder) January 17, 2024
📺 Stream the race now on 7plus: https://t.co/k2Exq3FDwl pic.twitter.com/LwZYq1NCcS
The fast men then had two days to make the most of their power. Aussie Welsford and his lead-out proved again to be the strongest and went on to take two more bouquets.
The tough finishes at Willunga Hill and Mount Lofty were to determine the final winner. Isaac Del Toro had to let his rivals slip away in the final 100 metres of the ascent of Willunga, where another young talent, Scotland’s Oscar Onley (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL), took victory ahead of Williams, the new overall leader.
The leader of Israel - Premier Tech settled everything the following day on the slopes of Mount Lofty, after catching a certain Laurence Pithie at the last minute. For a moment, the young New Zealander thought he was going to claim his first victory in the UCI WorldTour calendar, but it went to the Welshman…
"This sport is so tough that winning races doesn't happen very often,” Williams observed. "So to do it here in Australia, at the first UCI WorldTour race of the season, is fantastic."
Pithie dances on a tightrope
Laurence Pithie was already on target for victory at the Santos Tour Down Under. Whether in the pure sprints or more difficult finishes, the Kiwi concluded this first stage race with three top-5 finishes. Enough to make him a serious contender in Geelong, where four climbs of Challambra Crescent spiced the finale of the first one-day race on the 2024 UCI WorldTour calendar.
Led for a long time by the Israel - Premier Tech and Lidl-Trek teams, the peloton wasn't really able to enjoy the paradise-like setting of the Great Ocean Road... The selection was made as the laps went by, before the favourites revealed themselves in the final 20km.
One after the other, Spaniard Juan-Pedro López and American Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) shook up a bunch reduced to a few units in order to avoid a sprint to the finish line at all costs. Simmons thought he had made the difference in the last 3km, but he was caught again shortly after the red banner.
A sprint would crown the last winner of this Australian tour. Pithie was boxed in ahead of the final sprint but he slalomed his way to glory by beating Natnael Tesfazion (Lidl-Trek) in the bike throw.
"It's incredible”, said the youngest winner of the event since its inception in 2015. “I managed to make my way through and find an opening. It's still hard to believe.”
From Williams to Pithie, with Del Toro, Welsford and Onley also in the mix, new faces are ready to shake up the big names in the UCI WorldTour. It promises to be an exciting season!