The Tour Down Under is the WorldTour’s season opener. Its January calendar slot makes it an uncomfortably early test for the majority of the international peloton. 

However, for Australians and other southern hemisphere dwellers The Tour Down Under lies towards the end of summer and follows a season of sunny training and racing opportunities. 

Arriving on the heels of the Australian National Championships, the Tour Down Under offers a chance for Australian riders and the like to put their form on display, while the rest of the peloton attempts to blow out the offseason cobwebs out of their legs.

Jarrad Drizners

Jarrad Drizners is the recently crowned U23 Australian National Road Champion, which marks a promising start to a big year in Drizners' career. 

The 20 year old from Adelaide signed with the world renowned Hagens Berman Axeon development team for the 2020 season, and is already proving to be yet another example of Axel Merckx’s talent scouting prowess. 

While Merckx’s development team will not be racing the Tour Down Under, Drizners will be riding with the UniSA-Australia composite team, which is a yearly feature at the WorldTour stage race. Drizner is unproven racing at this level, but he is clearly on form and should have plenty of opportunities throughout the week to show what he can do.

Lucas Hamilton

Lucas Hamilton, the 23 year old from Mitchelton-Scott made a name for himself in 2019 with breakaway performances in the Giro d’Italia and promising GC results including the overall victory at the 2.1 Coppi e Bartali. Hamilton slipped into the top 20 at the 2019 Tour Down Under, which kick started his breakout season. Will he crack the top ten in 2020?

George Bennett

The Kiwi climber has shown huge potential as a GC rider, however consistency has not been his strong suit due to a medical condition that causes severe side stitches. 

In an attempt to resolve this, Bennett underwent a surgery during the off season to remove a significant amount of cartilage from his rib cage, which effectively amounted to the removal of three ribs. The Tour Down Under will be Bennett’s first test. 

His Jumbo-Visma team will certainly be eager to see what effects the surgery had, as they plan to give him sole leadership at this year’s Giro d’Italia.

James Piccoli

James Piccoli is a punchy climbing talent that has done his time working through the US domestic peloton. The Canadian made a name for himself the past few seasons with impressive performances in the mountains of the Tour of Utah, which earned him a call up to the newly minted Israel Start Up Nation WorldTour outfit.

Keep an eye out for Piccoli on Willunga Hill. He has a skill set should which should help him produce a great ride on the pitchy climb.

Rohan Dennis

Can a former winner of the race be considered an underdog?

Rohan Dennis won the 2015 edition of the race, and rode to 5th overall in 2019. While the world time trial champion has proven that he is without doubt capable of winning the Tour Down Under, the 2020 edition will be an interesting test for Dennis. This will be Dennis’ first race with Team Ineos, and he will be given full leadership. 

Following a tumultuous season with Bahrain-Merida, which lead to him abandoning the Tour de France and effectively the team, the world will be watching to see how Dennis integrates into Ineos’ rigid structure.