Sam Welsford (INEOS Grenadiers) won Stage 3 of the Santos Tour Down Under in Nairne, claiming his seventh career stage victory at the race and his first in INEOS colours after a breakaway was caught inside the final kilometre.
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) retained the ochre jersey despite being held up by a crash inside 3km, with commissaires applying the UCI's safety protocol so his six-second lead over teammate Jhonatan Narváez was maintained.
Stage 3 Results
Henley Beach - Nairne • Jan 23 • 140.8km
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Samuel WELSFORD | IGDINEOS GRENADIERS | 3:26:43 |
| 🥈 | Tobias LUND ANDRESEN | DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | +00 |
| 🥉 | Lewis BOWER | GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | +00 |
| 4 | Thomas Jake STEWART | NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM | +00 |
| 5 | Aaron Murray GATE | XATXDS ASTANA TEAM | +00 |
| 6 | Žak ERŽEN | TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | +00 |
| 7 | Finn Lachlan Fox FISHER-BLACK | RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE | +00 |
| 8 | Matthew FOX | LOILOTTO INTERMARCHÉ | +00 |
| 9 | Anthon CHARMIG | UXMUNO-X MOBILITY | +00 |
| 10 | Jensen PLOWRIGHT | APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | +00 |
| 11 | Christopher HAMILTON | TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL | +00 |
| 12 | Matthew BRENNAN | TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | +00 |
| 13 | Luke LAMPERTI | EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST | +00 |
| 14 | Sente SENTJENS | APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | +00 |
| 15 | Patrick EDDY | UNKUnknown | +00 |
| 16 | Ben SWIFT | IGDINEOS GRENADIERS | +00 |
| 17 | Gonzalo SERRANO RODRIGUEZ | MOVMOVISTAR TEAM | +00 |
| 18 | Jacopo MOSCA | LTKLIDL-TREK | +00 |
| 19 | Stian EDVARDSEN-FREDHEIM | UXMUNO-X MOBILITY | +00 |
| 20 | Henri François RENARD HAQUIN | TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL | +00 |
| 21 | Samuel WATSON | IGDINEOS GRENADIERS | +00 |
| 22 | Jhonatan NARVAEZ PRADO | UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | +00 |
| 23 | Rudy PORTER | JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA | +00 |
| 24 | Ethan Kane VERNON | NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM | +00 |
| 25 | Tim MARSMAN | APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | +00 |
| 26 | Embret SVESTAD-BÅRDSENG | IGDINEOS GRENADIERS | +00 |
| 27 | Laurence PITHIE | RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE | +00 |
| 28 | Michal KWIATKOWSKI | IGDINEOS GRENADIERS | +00 |
| 29 | Gal GLIVAR | APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | +00 |
| 30 | Pierre GAUTHERAT | DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | +00 |
| 31 | Harrison SWEENY | EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST | +00 |
| 32 | Florian Samuel KAJAMINI | XATXDS ASTANA TEAM | +00 |
| 33 | Manlio MORO | MOVMOVISTAR TEAM | +00 |
| 34 | Mauro SCHMID | JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA | +00 |
| 35 | Natnael TESFATSION | MOVMOVISTAR TEAM | +00 |
| 36 | Maikel ZIJLAARD | TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | +00 |
| 37 | Andrea RACCAGNI NOVIERO | SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP | +00 |
| 38 | Alberto DAINESE | SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP | +00 |
| 39 | Guillaume MARTIN GUYONNET | GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | +00 |
| 40 | Matthew DINHAM | TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL | +00 |
| 41 | Matteo SOBRERO | LTKLIDL-TREK | +00 |
| 42 | Filippo ZANA | SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP | +00 |
| 43 | Jay VINE | UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | +00 |
| 44 | Marco BRENNER | TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | +00 |
| 45 | Georg ZIMMERMANN | UNKUnknown | +00 |
| 46 | Darren VAN BEKKUM | XATXDS ASTANA TEAM | +00 |
| 47 | Simone VELASCO | XATXDS ASTANA TEAM | +00 |
| 48 | Florian STORK | TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | +00 |
| 49 | Rémi CAVAGNA | GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | +00 |
| 50 | Oliver BLEDDYN | UNKUnknown | +00 |
| 51 | Francesco BUSATTO | APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | +00 |
| 52 | Christopher HARPER | UNKUnknown | +00 |
| 53 | Nicolas PRODHOMME | DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | +00 |
| 54 | Marco SCHRETTL | XATXDS ASTANA TEAM | +00 |
| 55 | Nicholas SCHULTZ | NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM | +00 |
| 56 | Michael Shea LEONARD | EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST | +00 |
| 57 | Petr KELEMEN | TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | +00 |
| 58 | Reuben THOMPSON | UNKUnknown | +00 |
| 59 | Andrea BAGIOLI | LTKLIDL-TREK | +00 |
| 60 | Pascal EENKHOORN | SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP | +00 |
| 61 | Jefferson Alveiro CEPEDA HERNANDEZ | MOVMOVISTAR TEAM | +00 |
| 62 | Tord GUDMESTAD | DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | +00 |
| 63 | Javier ROMO OLIVER | MOVMOVISTAR TEAM | +00 |
| 64 | Anton SCHIFFER | TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | +00 |
| 65 | Santiago BUITRAGO SANCHEZ | TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | +00 |
| 66 | Sam OOMEN | LTKLIDL-TREK | +00 |
| 67 | Baptiste VEISTROFFER | LOILOTTO INTERMARCHÉ | +00 |
| 68 | Matthew GREENWOOD | UNKUnknown | +00 |
| 69 | Oliver PEACE | TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL | +00 |
| 70 | Ben O'CONNOR | JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA | +00 |
| 71 | Hamish MCKENZIE | JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA | +00 |
| 72 | Damien Craig HOWSON | UNKUnknown | +00 |
| 73 | Kévin GENIETS | GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | +00 |
| 74 | Robert STANNARD | TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | +00 |
| 75 | Lucas PLAPP | JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA | +00 |
| 76 | Callum THORNLEY | RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE | +00 |
| 77 | Per Strand HAGENES | TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | +00 |
| 78 | Pavel NOVÁK | MOVMOVISTAR TEAM | +00 |
| 79 | Amanuel GHEBREIGZABHIER | LTKLIDL-TREK | +00 |
| 80 | Patrick KONRAD | LTKLIDL-TREK | +00 |
| 81 | Davide TONEATTI | XATXDS ASTANA TEAM | +00 |
| 82 | Alessandro ROMELE | XATXDS ASTANA TEAM | +00 |
| 83 | Filippo FIORELLI | TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | +00 |
| 84 | Edoardo ZAMBANINI | TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | +00 |
| 85 | Alastair MACKELLAR | EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST | +00 |
| 86 | Tim Torn TEUTENBERG | LTKLIDL-TREK | +00 |
| 87 | Erik Nordsaeter RESELL | UXMUNO-X MOBILITY | +00 |
| 88 | Luke DURBRIDGE | JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA | +00 |
| 89 | Enzo PALENI | GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | +00 |
| 90 | Fran MIHOLJEVIĆ | TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | +00 |
| 91 | Fabio VAN DEN BOSSCHE | SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP | +1:00 |
| 92 | Andreas Lorentz KRON | UXMUNO-X MOBILITY | +00 |
| 93 | Anders SKAARSETH | UXMUNO-X MOBILITY | +00 |
| 94 | Kelland O’BRIEN | JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA | +1:10 |
| 95 | Adam Richard YATES | UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | +00 |
| 96 | Ivo Emanuel ALVES OLIVEIRA | UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | +00 |
| 97 | Jefferson CEPEDA ORTIZ | EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST | +00 |
| 98 | Max WALKER | EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST | +1:23 |
| 99 | Lucas STEVENSON | UNKUnknown | +1:23 |
| 100 | Casper Cornelis VAN UDEN | TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL | +00 |
| 101 | Brady GILMORE | NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM | +1:34 |
| 102 | James KNOX | TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL | +00 |
| 103 | Pietro MATTIO | TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | +1:45 |
| 104 | Titouan FONTAINE | GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | +1:45 |
| 105 | Simon James CLARKE | NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM | +1:45 |
| 106 | George BENNETT | NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM | +1:45 |
| 107 | Callum SCOTSON | DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | +1:45 |
| 108 | Antoine L'HOTE | DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | +1:45 |
| 109 | Storm INGEBRIGTSEN | UXMUNO-X MOBILITY | +1:45 |
| 110 | Casper PEDERSEN | SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP | +2:01 |
| 111 | Juan Sebastian MOLANO BENAVIDES | UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | +2:05 |
| 112 | Albert TORRES BARCELO | MOVMOVISTAR TEAM | +2:05 |
| 113 | Tom DONNENWIRTH | GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | +2:09 |
| 114 | Maurice BALLERSTEDT | APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | +2:09 |
| 115 | Haimar ETXEBERRIA ANSALAS | RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE | +2:21 |
| 116 | Luke TUCKWELL | RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE | +2:21 |
| 117 | Jarrad Eriks DRIZNERS | RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE | +2:43 |
| 118 | Danny VAN POPPEL | RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE | +2:43 |
| 119 | Jack HAIG | IGDINEOS GRENADIERS | +2:43 |
| 120 | Niklas MÄRKL | TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL | +2:43 |
| 121 | Joel SUTER | TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | +2:43 |
| 122 | Lionel TAMINIAUX | LOILOTTO INTERMARCHÉ | +2:43 |
| 123 | Menno HUISING | TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | +2:43 |
| 124 | Pepijn REINDERINK | SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP | +2:56 |
| 125 | Tim REX | TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | +2:56 |
| 126 | Martin BUGGE | UXMUNO-X MOBILITY | +3:12 |
| 127 | Liam WALSH | UNKUnknown | +00 |
| 128 | Oscar CHAMBERLAIN | DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | +3:36 |
| 129 | Corbin John STRONG | NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM | +3:36 |
| 130 | Michael GOGL | APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | +3:36 |
| 131 | Lucas HAMILTON | IGDINEOS GRENADIERS | +5:35 |
| 132 | Oliver STOCKWELL | TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | +5:35 |
| 133 | Mikkel Norsgaard BJERG | UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | +5:35 |
| 134 | Luc WIRTGEN | TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | +5:35 |
| 135 | Vegard Stake LAENGEN | UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | +5:35 |
| 136 | Jardi Christiaan VAN DER LEE | EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST | +5:35 |
Image credits: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
The 140.8km stage from Henley Beach featured the Category 1 Wickham Hill early, its 3km at 7% with ramps to 11% testing whether sprint teams could keep their leaders in contact. A three-man breakaway featuring Martin Urianstad Bugge (Uno-X Mobility), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché) and Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ United) established a maximum advantage of 2:30.
Urianstad Bugge consolidated his mountains classification lead before cramping with 16km remaining. Veistroffer dropped at 3km, leaving Paleni alone as the peloton tried to close the gap.
INEOS delivered Welsford through the narrow finishing circuit, with Ben Swift guiding him into position before he launched his sprint, with Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and Lewis Bower (Groupama-FDJ United) unable to keep up.
As discussed in our pre-race analysis, Welsford's win carries weight for the sprint priorities for INEOS for the rest of the 2026 season.
Heat concerns mount - Willunga ascent cancelled
Stage 3 temperatures reached 34°C, but attention turned quickly to Saturday's forecast of 42°C for the Queen stage featuring three ascents of Willunga Hill. Race organisers confirmed on Friday evening that they would be removing the ascent altogether. "The Willunga Hill component of the stage will be removed from the route entirely," organisers said in an official statement. The course will now cover only 131km.
Vine and Narváez hold a 1-2 for UAE, with Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) third at 1:05. The shortened Willunga stage on Saturday is followed by Sunday's Stirling circuits, the final day of the race.
Cover image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
