As it happened: Ecuadorian rider wins overall Tour Down Under

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the final stage of the Tour Down Under. Stage 6 starts at 1:30pm local time and finishes roughly two hours later.

Stage 5 winner Jhonathan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates XRG) tops the GC with with nine seconds on Javier Romo (Movistar) and 12 seconds on Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Today’s final stage, a flat fast circuit race, should crown Narváez as the winner of the 2025 Santos Tour Down Under.

Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek) leads the best young rider classification with 15 seconds on Zac Marriage (ARA Australia), and 20 seconds on Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates XRG).

Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) leads the mountain classification and simply needs to safely cross the finish line today to take home the final polka-dot jersey.

The last classification up for grabs today is the points classification, led by Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) by virtue of his two stage wins. He is tied with Narváez with 60 points with stage 4 winner Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) in third with 5 points.

The Tour Down Under goes back to its fun, flat, fast finale in Adelaide with a 90km stage - 20 laps around a 4.5km circuit - with one climb that will hardly worry the sprinters. The peloton hits Montefiore Hill twice, the final time with 18km to go.

Stage 6, of the Tour Down Under will be underway in under 5 minutes with 134 riders. Two riders not starting today are Loe van Belle (Visma-Lease A Bike) who abandoned after crashing on stage 5 and Lidl-Trek's Juan Pedro Lopez who was ejected for a sticky bottle.

And we’re off and racing on Australia Day!

Of course,the first attack comes from Fergus Browning.

EF marks the attack with Durbridge on the wheel. 

Next attack comes from Soudal as they zoom by the Adelaide Oval

Soudal's Pedersen is joined by an Damien Howson and Kelland O'Brien.

Van der Lee is trying to get across to the three who have a gap on lap 1.

Break

Casper Pedersen (Sooudal-Quickstep), Damien Howson (ARA Australia) and Kelland O'Brien (Jayco-AlUla) are off the front. 

One lap done, 19 to go. 

Trio has 8 seconds and the front of the peloton is spread across the road but Arkea sees a window and jumps.

Trio is working well but Intermarche-led peloton is holding them at 13 seconds ahead.

After a few of relatively cool weather, it's a hot one this afternoon in Adelaide, hitting mid 30C. 

Another lap done, gap holding at 15 seconds for the trio with more attacks off the front of the peloton.

Field is single-filed, slowing bringing the three riders back with the first of two intermediate sprints coming at the end of lap 4.

Trio has a slim 7 seconds as they start lap 4, intermediate sprint at the end of this lap.

Average speed is now 47kmph, on the 4.5km loop.

Field is once again spread across the road, deciding to let the 3 breakaway riders increase their gap to 23 seconds, halfway through lap 4.

Red Bull, team of double stage winner Sam Welsforsd, have now come to the front of the peloton. 

Break rolls through the intermediate with Pedersen crossing the line first, followed by O'Brien and Howson. 

Red Bull now in numbers are at the front of the peloton, while race leader Narvaez is chilling in the peloton. Gap of 40 seconds now.

Race leader Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates XRG) shared his thoughts before the start of stage 6:

“It’s really significant to win the stage yesterday, the race was really hard, and I'm happy for the result.  Obviously I like the new team. We have fun here in Australia the last two weeks, so I will miss the time here.”

About his rivals. “He [Romo] was really strong yesterday. But also, I think the strongest on the climb was Lucas Plapp. You see how he attacked many times in the last part. I think everyone did his best effort to win the race yesterday.”

About the final stage. “Of course, we will try to stay safe.”

Mark Cavendish sent the racers off for the final stage today.

Breakaway trio of Pedersen, O'Brien and Howson start lap #6 with a gap of 35 seconds.

The Red Bull-led peloton is keeping a tight leash on the three up the road; the gap is 24 seconds with 60km to go.

Break starts lap 8 which includes the first KOM of the day, Montefiore Hill which is climbed each lap, but only has points on the line on lap 8, and lap 16.

As expected no contest for the KOM, with Howson leading the trio. Gap at 38 seconds.

Kelland O’Brien (Jayco Alula) leads the break on the fast circuit

Earlier today, three riders in the Tour Down Under peloton, Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)  and Oliver Bleddyn and Kelland O’Brien - both on the ARA Australian team - were awarded with Medals of the Order of Australia (OAM) for securing an Olympic gold medal.

The three riders were part of the Australian pursuit team that broke the world record on their way to victory.

Peloton is quite happy to let the trio stay up the road. It negates other attacks and most riders are waiting for the expected bunch sprint.

45km to go

Halfway through stage 6, the breakaway trio of Howson, O'Brien and Pedersen have 45 seconds on the field. 

Multiple teams - UAE, Alpecin, Red Bull - coming to the front with race leader Narvaez now sitting fourth wheel. 

Red Bull took back control of the front, most of the team is all lined up setting the pace. Gap down to 35 seconds.

Trio just started lap 12, with second intermediate sprint line at the end of this lap. Turn of pace at the front of the peloton, as Plapp accelerates. Gap at 25 seconds.

Plapp's attack is covered immediately by AG2R rider.

One rider jumped from the field to try and bridge up.

And it's a Fisher-Black covered by Tesfazion but Fisher-Black sits up.

Once again, trio rolls through with O'Brien crossing the line first.

That was an interesting move by Fisher-Black, who is three seconds out of the second-place Romo. Fisher-Black was trying to go over the breakaway trio to get the 3-second time bonus at the intermediate sprint. Romo's teammate Tesfazion nullified the attack.

The attack reduced the gap even more. Breakaway now have 15 seconds with 34km to go.

And now it's Onley's turn to attack. He is in 4th place on GC, 3 seconds from third-place Fisher-Black.

Quick response by the peloton-led Red Bull. They were already at the front for their sprinter Welsford, and now are also protecting Fisher-Black's podium spot. 

UAE takes over the front with Narvaez in third spot. And Only is back into the fold. Breakaway still holding at 15 seconds.

The peloton on War Memorial Drive during Stage 6 of the Adelaide Circuit with the Oval Hotel in front of them.

Alpecin now adds a rider at the front of the peloton. Teams are starting to look at positioning for the expected bunch sprint.

Field is starting to stretch out with 23 km to go, with the gap to the trio of Howson, O'Brien and Pedersen at 18 seconds 

Break is on lap 16 which includes the second KOM of the day. Once again, there should be no battle for the points. 

Howson rolled across the KOM line first followed by Pedersen and O'Brien. They have 24 seconds. The question is not if but when they will be reeled in. 

Alpecin has been assisting Red Bull at the front and IPT are now moving forward

Welsford is moving up too, along the left barriers. 

13.5 km / 3 laps to go

Peloton is simply waiting for the time to reel in the trio who now have 11 seconds on the field.

Shuffling continues at the front, positioning behind Red Bull in progress. 

Welsford is now up in the top 5 positions at the front of the field with 9km to go, as the breakaway trio continue to push with their 10 second lead.

Sprint trains are forming: Red Bull, IPT, Picnic, Cofidis, all trying to get the best position.

Pedersen is going off solo leaving Howson and O'Brien with 8km to go

Pedersen climbs Montefiore Hill for the penultimate time. Gives a quick look under his shoulder and keeps on going. Howson and O'Brien are back in the fold.

Bell lap for Pedersen with 10 seconds on the peloton.  

Ineos setting the pace as the peloton fight for peloton on every corner. 

Coté goes down but is back up quickly.

Pedersen still has a few second with 2.6km to go with Ineos-led peloton closing down on him.

Pedersen is reeled in with 2.4km to go. Bahrain comes to the front. 

Welsford on his teammates wheels Poppel, Pithie. Groupama pushing towards the front on the inside.

Big crash at the front with 1.2km to go.

A small group made it through before the crash that involved a lot of riders. Coquard and Welsford made the split.

Welsford was second wheel as they took the final corner, with Coquard on his wheel before Welsford opened his sprint and took the win - his third stage victory of the race.

Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) sprinted to his third stage win on the final day of the 2025 Tour Down Under. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) was second, and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) finished third.

Results

Let’s hear from the stage winner Sam Welsford and some of his Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe teammates:

“So lots of words. My boys are so good. Today took control. In the end, just amazing. These boys just so good.”

“We came here with big goals, and we ticked them off pretty well. I think to win three stages and third on GC is something something to be proud of that’s for for sure.”

Laurence Pithie on Welsford. “He was great today. He's been great all week. To be honest. He's had some hard luck with crashes and he bounces back and still wins. It's super incredible.”

Danny van Poppel on leading out Welsford. "It's amazing. So strong and the sprint was perfect. So, yeah, super happy that."

Welsford also won the points classification.

Let’s hear from overall winner Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates XRG):

“Today was, I think, one of the hardest of the week because it was not really safe. If you brake or not, it depends on the other contenders so it makes things more dangerous, but we saved it.”

“Three crashes in the last 3 k[ilometres]. It’s not easy when 150 guys are trying to go into one corner at 70kmph, it’s dangerous but it’s cycling and we saved the day.”

About the importance of winning his first stage WorldTour victory. “Really, really big. It means a lot for me. Also, for the team now, it’s my first year here, and a start like this is awesome.”

Let’s hear from best young rider Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek).

“I would definitely say being in the final on stage three was really special. It was super cool to write up along these riders that you've watched on television so many times. So to be there myself was really cool.”

“Yesterday was a really tough day for me. I got caught in the wrong position before the last climb, and then I was also affected a bit by the heat. So it wasn't my best day, but it was a part of a learning process.”

About this result helping his confidence for the rest of the season. “I would definitely say this was a really good start of my season. I definitely have a bit more confidence coming out of the race.”

Let’s hear from Fergus Browning (ARA Australia) who took home the mountains classification:

"I don't think it's what I expected coming into it [Tour Down Under], but I'm absolutely stoked to pull it off today."

"I come to this race looking for a bit of exposure, and obviously it's the highest level of the sport. I think hopefully I've done that in the first three days, and really looking forward to just making 2025 a big year."

About the decision on who would take the KOM points when out in the break with ARA Australia teammate Zac Marriage. “I think it's just how it went. And it ended up being me that rolled over the KOM points first, and from then on, that's the journey I ventured down. And, it's been an awesome week, and I've loved every second of it.”

About the experience of being on a team with Damien Howson. “He's been my roommate, so he's been amazing. [He] just knows the pro peloton like the back of his hand. He knows what's gonna happen, and he can just read it so well, so he's been super helpful. Great start of the year; hopefully, more to come.

Our race report, results, and photos can all be found here:

Jhonatan Narvaez wins Tour Down Under