Brennan sprints to Stirling stage 5 win as Jay Vine survives kangaroo crash to seal Tour Down Under title

Matthew Brennan (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) won the uphill sprint on the Stirling drag to take Stage 5, while Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) continued after a mid-race kangaroo collision to secure overall victory at the 2026 Santos Tour Down Under.

The sprint was opened by Brady Gilmore (NSN Pro Cycling), Brennan followed his wheel before overtaking him in the final 50 metres of the 2km finishing climb, which averaged 4% with ramps touching 11%. Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) took second place, while Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM Team), who had beaten Brennan to the Stage 1 win, completed the podium.

Stage 5 Results

Stirling • Jan 25 • 169.8km

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
🥇	Matthew BRENNAN	TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	3:58:08
🥈	Finn Lachlan Fox FISHER-BLACK	RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+00
🥉	Tobias LUND ANDRESEN	DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+00
4	Brady GILMORE	NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM	+00
5	Simone VELASCO	XATXDS ASTANA TEAM	+00
6	Patrick EDDY	UNKUnknown	+00
7	Samuel WATSON	IGDINEOS GRENADIERS	+00
8	Edoardo ZAMBANINI	TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+00
9	Natnael TESFATSION	MOVMOVISTAR TEAM	+00
10	Andrea BAGIOLI	LTKLIDL-TREK	+00
11	Anthon CHARMIG	UXMUNO-X MOBILITY	+00
12	Matteo SOBRERO	LTKLIDL-TREK	+00
13	Andrea RACCAGNI NOVIERO	SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+00
14	Tom DONNENWIRTH	GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+00
15	Filippo ZANA	SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+00
16	Matthew FOX	LOILOTTO INTERMARCHÉ	+00
17	Andreas Lorentz KRON	UXMUNO-X MOBILITY	+00
18	Mauro SCHMID	JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA	+00
19	Marco BRENNER	TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+00
20	Aaron Murray GATE	XATXDS ASTANA TEAM	+00
21	Harrison SWEENY	EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+00
22	Christopher HAMILTON	TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL	+00
23	Florian Samuel KAJAMINI	XATXDS ASTANA TEAM	+00
24	Georg ZIMMERMANN	UNKUnknown	+00
25	Ben O'CONNOR	JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA	+00
26	Jay VINE	UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG	+00
27	Embret SVESTAD-BÅRDSENG	IGDINEOS GRENADIERS	+00
28	Matthew DINHAM	TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL	+00
29	Rudy PORTER	JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA	+00
30	Christopher HARPER	UNKUnknown	+08
31	Sam OOMEN	LTKLIDL-TREK	+08
32	Enzo PALENI	GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+08
33	Guillaume MARTIN GUYONNET	GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+08
34	Anton SCHIFFER	TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	+08
35	Oliver BLEDDYN	UNKUnknown	+11
36	Gonzalo SERRANO RODRIGUEZ	MOVMOVISTAR TEAM	+11
37	Jefferson Alveiro CEPEDA HERNANDEZ	MOVMOVISTAR TEAM	+11
38	Alessandro ROMELE	XATXDS ASTANA TEAM	+11
39	Marco SCHRETTL	XATXDS ASTANA TEAM	+11
40	Santiago BUITRAGO SANCHEZ	TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+14
41	Gal GLIVAR	APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+15
42	Michal KWIATKOWSKI	IGDINEOS GRENADIERS	+30
43	Henri François RENARD HAQUIN	TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL	+34
44	Davide TONEATTI	XATXDS ASTANA TEAM	+35
45	Tim MARSMAN	APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+35
46	Jacopo MOSCA	LTKLIDL-TREK	+37
47	Matthew GREENWOOD	UNKUnknown	+47
48	Adam Richard YATES	UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG	+47
49	Samuel WELSFORD	IGDINEOS GRENADIERS	+47
50	Laurence PITHIE	RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+47
51	Luke TUCKWELL	RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+47
52	Francesco BUSATTO	APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+47
53	Erik Nordsaeter RESELL	UXMUNO-X MOBILITY	+47
54	Per Strand HAGENES	TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	+47
55	Pietro MATTIO	TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	+47
56	Haimar ETXEBERRIA ANSALAS	RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+47
57	Jefferson CEPEDA ORTIZ	EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+50
58	Nicolas PRODHOMME	DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+1:08
59	Casper PEDERSEN	SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+1:11
60	Amanuel GHEBREIGZABHIER	LTKLIDL-TREK	+1:14
61	Reuben THOMPSON	UNKUnknown	+1:14
62	Damien Craig HOWSON	UNKUnknown	+1:18
63	Anders SKAARSETH	UXMUNO-X MOBILITY	+1:18
64	Luke LAMPERTI	EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+1:18
65	James KNOX	TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL	+1:18
66	Patrick KONRAD	LTKLIDL-TREK	+1:18
67	Pierre GAUTHERAT	DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+1:18
68	Fabio VAN DEN BOSSCHE	SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+1:25
69	Oscar CHAMBERLAIN	DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+1:36
70	Callum SCOTSON	DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+1:36
71	Lionel TAMINIAUX	LOILOTTO INTERMARCHÉ	+1:36
72	Florian STORK	TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+1:45
73	Jack HAIG	IGDINEOS GRENADIERS	+1:56
74	Jensen PLOWRIGHT	APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+2:00
75	Ivo Emanuel ALVES OLIVEIRA	UADUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG	+2:08
76	Michael Shea LEONARD	EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+2:11
77	Pepijn REINDERINK	SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+2:16
78	Oliver PEACE	TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL	+2:31
79	Niklas MÄRKL	TPPTEAM PICNIC POSTNL	+2:31
80	Baptiste VEISTROFFER	LOILOTTO INTERMARCHÉ	+3:26
81	Storm INGEBRIGTSEN	UXMUNO-X MOBILITY	+3:28
82	Tim Torn TEUTENBERG	LTKLIDL-TREK	+3:44
83	Fran MIHOLJEVIĆ	TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+3:46
84	Filippo FIORELLI	TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	+4:32
85	Darren VAN BEKKUM	XATXDS ASTANA TEAM	+4:39
86	Javier ROMO OLIVER	MOVMOVISTAR TEAM	+4:39
87	Hamish MCKENZIE	JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA	+4:40
88	Nicholas SCHULTZ	NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM	+4:44
89	George BENNETT	NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM	+4:44
90	Kelland O’BRIEN	JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA	+4:47
91	Petr KELEMEN	TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+4:55
92	Pascal EENKHOORN	SOUSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+4:55
93	Sente SENTJENS	APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+5:13
94	Lewis BOWER	GFCGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+6:36
95	Jarrad Eriks DRIZNERS	RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+6:38
96	Robert STANNARD	TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+6:38
97	Alastair MACKELLAR	EFEEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+6:38
98	Lucas HAMILTON	IGDINEOS GRENADIERS	+6:40
99	Ben SWIFT	IGDINEOS GRENADIERS	+6:40
100	Tord GUDMESTAD	DCTDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+6:40
101	Ethan Kane VERNON	NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM	+6:56
102	Simon James CLARKE	NSNNSN CYCLING TEAM	+6:56
103	Tim REX	TVLTEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	+7:18
104	Callum THORNLEY	RBHRED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+7:18
105	Luc WIRTGEN	TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+7:18
106	Joel SUTER	TUDTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+7:18
107	Pavel NOVÁK	MOVMOVISTAR TEAM	+7:18
108	Luke DURBRIDGE	JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA	+7:29
109	Oliver STOCKWELL	TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+7:39
110	Martin BUGGE	UXMUNO-X MOBILITY	+10:39
111	Manlio MORO	MOVMOVISTAR TEAM	+10:39
112	Žak ERŽEN	TBVBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+10:39
113	Maurice BALLERSTEDT	APTALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+10:39
114	Lucas PLAPP	JAYTEAM JAYCO ALULA	+10:39

The victory marked Brennan's first WorldTour win of 2026 after finishing second on the opening stage. His team controlled the final five kilometres, chasing down a late move featuring Javier Romo (Movistar Team) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) that could have changed the podium positions.

Vine defends with depleted squad

Vine's GC defence was complicated after UAE entered Stage 5 with a reduced squad. Defending champion Jhonatan Narváez abandoned after Stage 4 with thoracic fractures, and Juan Sebastián Molano and Mikkel Bjerg withdrew mid-stage, leaving Vine with only Adam Yates and Ivo Oliveira for support.

With approximately 95km remaining, Vine crashed after he collided with a kangaroo that crossed the road. He remounted and rejoined the peloton, preserving his 1:03 advantage over Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla).

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Image credits: Zac Williams/SWpix.com

"I always say kangaroos are the most dangerous animals in Australia," Vine said following the race finish. "I hit it on its backside and went down but fortunately I'm okay but unfortunately we lost a guy.”

Route design tested but held

The eight-lap Stirling circuit, replacing the traditional Adelaide criterium finale, was designed to keep GC open until the final lap. While it produced repeated attacks, Vine's margin from his Stage 2 Corkscrew Road win was not reduced. The removal of Willunga Hill's triple ascent on Stage 4 due to 43°C temperatures meant his advantage was unchanged on that stage.

Vine's second Tour Down Under title, after his 2023 victory, was built on the time he gained on Stage 2 and maintained through the remaining stages.

Cover image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com