The men’s 2026 season kicks off with the 26^th Tour Down Under. After trying it back in 2023, the organisers have decided to kick off the race with a prologue in Adelaide, hopefully it doesn’t rain this time round. The organisers have pushed up the difficulty this year, the Corkscrew stage is back, but it’s harder than in previous years. This will have a huge impact on the GC, with Willunga to come on the penultimate day. Narváez is back to try and defend his title, UAE also bring Vine and Adam Yates, no doubt they want to start the year by dominating, just like they did throughout the whole of 2025. As the prologue is only 3.6km, it shouldn’t have a significant impact on the battle for ochre, especially considering the difficulty of the Corkscrew stage.