As it happened: Long-range solo attack claims win at Women's Tour Down Under stage 1

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the 2025 Women's Santos Tour Down Under. The toughest edition of the South Australian three-day stage race opens a new season of the Women’s WorldTour. 

Sunshine and blue skies for the start in Brighton, which has ocean views and pine trees lining the road.

Racing will start in around 10 minutes for stage 1 of the Women's Tour Down Under from Brighton to Snapper Point for a total of 101.9km.

Talk about possible crosswinds in pre-race interview. More on that later.

The riders now head out of the 3.8km neutral zone.

Flag drop by race director Stuart O’Grady and racing is underway for stage 1 of the Women's Tour Down Under. Ocean vistas await as the peloton travels along Jetty Road in Brighton, the route then will trace the coast en route to the Fleurieu Peninsula before a fast finish at Snapper Point in Aldinga.

Though the overall Women’s Tour Down Under route caters to the climbers with back-to-back climbs over the iconic Willunga Hill as the centre-piece of the three-day event, today’s stage should favour the sprinters.

Today, opportunists will be hunting for points in the lone Queen of the Mountain, the ascent of Heatherdale Hill midway through the stage.

Peloton together as riders hugging the left side of the road. Will the wind be a factor today?

Two riders on the start list did not start today: Marit Raaijmakers  Human Powered Health and Anouska Koster of UNO-X Mobility.

So 82 riders tool the start.

Plenty of big names were out to watch the start of racing at Tour Down Under as they set off- Mark Cavendish, Grace Brown – her first year on the sidelines after pinning on a number at the event since 2017, and UCI President David Lappartient.

The Santos Women’s Tour Down Under barely resembles the race it was when it officially first started in 2016 as a 2.2 UCI-ranked event, spawned from what was effectively a collection of criteriums.

Read more in Evolution of the Women's Tour Down Under - 'This is the hardest tour that we've seen’ from  Australia editor Simone Giuliani

90km to go

 Peloton together, spread across the road.

Less than 30km to go to the first intermediate sprint, set to take place through the Snapper Point finish at Aldinga Beach. For this pass, the peloton will head south, the opposite direction to their final push to the line later today.

 Three-time overall champion Amanda Spratt  of Lidl-Trek on the Women's Tour Down Under:

"I've been out in Australia since the beginning of November, and I'd like to say my summer training has gone very well. Yeah, I'm really happy with where I'm at. I think I felt really, really strong at Nationals, which was a good sign. And I think I'm coming in here with some really good shape. So I'm especially looking forward to racing with Niamh Fisher-Black on the climbing stages, and going for the GC with her.

"Our goal here is to try and win the GC and win a stage. And I think with Niamh and I, we have two really strong climbers. So yeah, we want to, we want to play off that first time racing together. But I'm really excited for it. I think we complement each other very well."

"It [stage 1] does look like a sprint stage, but there's also some winds, so we need to be aware of potential crosswinds, but I'm excited we have Clara Copponi here. She came in second last time we finished at Aldinga Beach, so I think she's going to be our big option for today."

Human Powered Health's Barbara Malcotti at her team car, getting her radio fixed. 

Attack at 84km to go

ARA Australian National Team rider attacks at the front, causing splits in the fiel. UNO-X and Liv AlUla Jayco reacted immediately.

Another attack by ARA, this time it's Alyssa Polites who makes a solo move.

Reaction from the peloton, led by Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling Team.  But the peloton has conceded the move, leaving Polites solo off the front with 81.8km to go.

Last week, 21-year old Alyssa Polites took the third and final spot in the U23 category, and finished tenth at the Australian Championships road race. 

Pilates has a lead of 1:15 on the peloton with 78km to go. The peloton seems happy to let her suffer in a solo move. 

Kiwi Ally Wollaston of FDJ-SUEZ, winner of stage 1 in last year’s race, was also talking about the possible winds in today’s stage before the start.

“Yeah, I'm really excited. This is one of my favorite races on the calendar. It's pretty much a home race for me, so I love coming here every year, but I'm looking forward to another edition.

“I think today will be a really exciting day. It's pretty windy out there today, and yeah, maybe not as flat, I think as I would have thought initially, so yeah, it should be really exciting today.”

Wollaston will be racing with her new team for the first time this year.

“I think it's a really exciting change for me, always a challenge moving into a new environment, but I feel at home already. The girls have already been really supportive of me and yeah looking forward to going all in for the sprint today, so that's really exciting. But, at the end of the day, he's still, still doing the same old job, I'm just riding a bike today, so yeah, I'm really looking forward to it.”

Gap has increased to 2:20 for Polites with 73km to go.

All attacks have been nullified by this solo move, as we wait for the upcoming intermediate sprint. 

Ruth Edwards returned to full-time racing with Human Powered Health at the beginning of 2024 with standout performances that included a second place at the US National Championships and an overall victory at the Thüringen Ladies Tour.

With one solid season now under her belt, Edwards is looking to return to her pre-retirement form at the Tour Down Under, a race she won in 2020.

“I think it's hard to come to a bike race and not have some ambitions to win on podium. I think for everybody coming in in January, everyone just wants to look at each other and see how form is looking. So we'll kind of see how the first stage goes. And then I think everybody knows that Willunga tomorrow will be a big tell of how everyone's doing.”

“My training has been going pretty well, minus a few lost days of training in LA - I was there before I flew right here to Australia. We have a lot of friends down the line. Yeah, some family. But that house is so far, okay, but it was pretty close to some of the devastation. Yeah, stressful.”

Intermediate Sprint #1

Polites crosses the line first at the intermediate sprint #1 at the Esplanade (Snapper Point) at Finish Line, Aldinga Beach, and take three second time bonus seconds.

Position fight between EF Education-Oatly and UAE Team ADQ  for the remaining time bonus seconds on the line.

UAE rider took second place.

Crosswinds when the riders crossed the finish line for the first intermediate sprint, in the opposite direction that they will take for the final dash to the line. 

Peloton slowing pace slightly again, after the acceleration caused by the first intermediate sprint. 

Wind has started to come up, as Polites head into a section with potential kangaroos, holding a gap of 2 minutes with 62km to go. 

60km to go

Purple colors of Liv AlUla Jayco  coming to the front of peloton, with Lidl-Trek and FDJ-Suez teams.

Polites has 2:15 lead as we head towards to lone Queen of the Mountain line in less than 10 kilometres.

Polites going through the feedzone before she starts going up for the ascent of Heatherdale Hill. A 9.6km-long cat 1 climb with an average gradient of 3.8%, and some max pitches of 14.4%.

Gap is slowly going down, now at 1:45 as Polites sees 5km to QOM. 

And kangaroos by the side of the road. 

Crash

Crash in the peloton!  Lidl-Trek rider down. 

A clip of the wheel near the front of the peloton, leading to riders going down. 

Race doctor is attending Felicity Wilson-Haffenden of Lidl-Trek who went down. 

Peloton accelerating, in response to nerves caused by the crash with 55km to go as Polites gets advice from her team car.

EF Education-Oatly and UNO-X Mobility setting the pace at the front of the field. Polites is rocking the shoulders, grimacing, committing to get the QOM points as she sees 1km to go to the top.

Gap has closed significantly to Polites who is fighting to hold on as the cars clear the gap to the field. 

The final kilometre has the steepest pitches. Polites is using the smallest gearing option that she can. She can almost see the top of the climb.

Polites battled her way to the top first and takes maximum QOM points. And she takes a deep breath as she crosses the line.

50km to go

Field has splintered under pressure of the climb. Polites is back in the reduced peloton led by UAE. 

Daniek Hengeveld (Ceratizit-WNT) jumps from the back of the field and takes a solo flyer. No response so far from the field, though she looked behind her a few times to see if someone would come with her.

Liv AlUla Jayco takes over the pacemaking at the front of the field, as the wind is blowing but not enough to cause echelons.

Riders cross the Myponga reservoir, as they descend back to sea level for the next intermediate sprint.

Hengeveld only has 10 seconds on the peloton but she's not giving up, though she does look behind her to see if anyone will join her. 

Crosswinds are forcing the riders to hug the right-side of the road. Riders at the back are showing the strain, head down as they suffer.

A lone UAE rider has jumped from the field, trying to bridge to Hengeveld.

Results of the QOM sprint:

1- Alyssa Polites (ARA Australia) 

2- Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) 

3- Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly)

40km to go

Hengeveld has increased her gap with Greta Marturano (UAE) trying to get across to the lone rider.

Hengeveld has 30 seconds to Marturano and 1:10 to the peloton inside of 38km to go, and 7km to the second intermediate sprint.

Riders falling off the pace at the back of the field. Alli Anderson (Australia) is losing touch with the group. 

Hengeveld said before the race that she wanted to see Kangaroos. Mission accomplished!

Marturano has been caught leaving only Hengeveld solo off the front with 32km to go.

2nd intermediate sprint

Hengeveld gets maximum points and time bonus seconds. She has around a 1-minute lead on the field.

Attacks at the front of the field which includes Anderson who had trouble to stay with the group earlier in the stage.

UAE again go for the points, and time bonus seconds.

As we are heading to the pointy end of the race. Hengeveld has a 2-minute lead on the peloton, which shows little interest in chasing yet.  With 28km remaining, the riders are hesitating, eyeing each other to see who will step up and take charge.

Mechanical for Megan Armitage who gets a rear-wheel change as her EF Education-Oatly teammates try to slow down the peloton. 

The mechanic had to hang out the car to adjust the derailleur following the wheel change. Don't try this at home kids!

Meanwhile, Hengeveld is increasing her gap, now at 2:20 inside of 25km to go. Will she spoil the expected bunch sprint?

No team has shown any interest in chasing. 

Daniek Hengeveld now has 3 minutes to the pack with Canyon-Sram coming to the front to close the gap down.

Tiffany Cromwell and Chloé Dygert, both of Canyon-Sram, are at the front setting the pace. 

Read more about the US rider aiming to have a full road season starting with Tour Down Under - 'I don't feel like I've ever hit my full potential' - Chloé Dygert resets after years of setbacks 

20km to go

Dygert is setting a hard pace, almost dropping the rest of the pack as they chase Hengeveld. Their pace has reduced the gap to 2:30. 

Canyon-Sram chatting with EF Education riders to get more power in the chase. And Sarah Roy of EF takes over the pacemaking. FDJ-Suez moving up too.

AG Insurance-Soudal, Canyon-Sram, and FDJ-Suez all put a rider at the front, taking turns setting the pace to chase solo attacker Hengeveld with 16km to go. 

Lots of jostling at the front, no real organization to close the 2-minute gap. 

8.5km to go

Hengeveld still has a 1:55 lead to the peloton with Canyon-Sram still setting the pace,

Hengeveld and the peloton are flying down to the finish line but the gap is still over 1:30. 

Dygert has pulled away from the peloton, forcing the hand of the other teams. Dygert looks behind her to see the reaction. 

Amber Pate (Liv AlUla Jayco) jumps from the field to try and catch Dygert. Others are responding behind as the race is splintering.

More riders jump to try and catch Dygert. Alex Manly (AG Insurance-Soudal) has joined Dygert.

Quick change for EF sprinter Noemi Rüegg.

Hengeveld is inside of 2km to go. Can she hold it for the win? She still has over a minute on the peloton which is back together.

Cromwell once again goes to the front of the pack.

Hengeveld wins

Daniek Hengeveld (Ceratizit-WNT) soloed to the win.

Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) took the field sprint for second place ahead of Kathrin Schweinberger (Human Powered Health).

Results

Daniek Hengeveld (Ceratizit-WNT) soloed to win stage 1 of the Santos Women Tour Down Under in Aldinga Beach.

Crossing the line 36 seconds behind the winner, Ally Wollaston (FDJ-SUEZ) took the field sprint for second place and Kathrin Schweinberger (Human Powered Health) was third.

Daniek Hengeveld takes the first ochre leader's jersey at the 2025 Women's Tour Down Under. With the time bonus seconds collected on stage 1, she has a 43-second lead on Ally Wollaston and 45 seconds on Schweinberger.

Lidl-Trek's Felicity Wilson-Haffenden who crashed in the stage, finished in a small group, 7:14 behind the winner.

Let's hear from the winner:

“I was actually not even thinking, I was just it's a new team and we wanted to be aggressive and I was actually struggling on the climb and I was like well, I better just go now because everybody is struggling. So that was my motivation to just go and see how far I go? It was still far, and I was alone and I was like, oh, I will see how far I come.”

"It was still far, and I was alone and I was like, oh, I will see how far I come.”

QOM leader Alyssa Polites (ARA Australia National Team) on going out and surviving through to pick up the QOM points and jersey:

"I was a little bit lonely. I knew it was really early and yeah, just had the finish line right on the QOM, so yeah, they just really egged me on in the car and I made it across."

"It (the QOM) wasn't really the goal at the start. It was just have a crack and see how we go."

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

Women's Tour Down Under: Daniek Hengeveld surprises sprinters to take solo win on stage 1