Santos Tour Down Under

The wait is finally over! Tuesday came with the first race day of the season for our team, a 3.6km prologue that established an initial pecking order at the 26th Tour Down Under. The first World Tour event of the year, and one where Soudal Quick-Step has won numerous times in the past two decades, the Tour Down Under started for just the second time in its history with a stage against the clock, and as expected, the gaps weren’t big.

Andrea Raccagni, who kicked off in Australia his second season with the Wolfpack, concluded the day as the squad’s best placed rider on the general classification, thanks to a solid ride that saw him average 48.9km/h and stop the clock in 4:24. The 22-year-old Italian finished not far from Samuel Watson (Ineos Grenadiers), who took the race’s first ochre jersey, and sits second in the white jersey standings.

On Wednesday, the peloton will tackle the first road stage of this edition. Held around Tanunda, it puts on the table a hilly course which could favour a breakaway or a late attack, but a reduced bunch sprint is also possible.

Photo credit: ©Con Chronis / Getty Images