Ethan Vernon takes Stage 4 sprint as fire danger strips Willunga climb from Tour Down Under queen stage

Ethan Vernon takes Stage 4 sprint as fire danger strips Willunga climb from Tour Down Under queen stage

Extreme heat and fire warnings forced organisers to the key Willunga climb from Stage 4, while defending champion Jhonatan Narváez abandoned after an early crash, leaving Jay Vine exposed ahead of Sunday's Stirling decider.

By Peter Stuart · · 2 min read

Ethan Vernon (NSN Cycling Team) won a reduced bunch sprint on a heat-shortened Stage 4 on Lower Willunga Hill, as race leader Jay Vine retained the ochre jersey but lost key UAE Team Emirates-XRG support to crashes.

The British rider jumped with about 250m to go and no one was able to match his kick. "We watched the last couple of editions of the women's and in 2023, and both guys won from a jump," said Vernon after the stage. "And I was sat there pretty comfy, 250 to go, so I went".

Results

Brighton - Willunga Hill • Jan 24 • 176km

Velora
PosRiderTeamTime
🥇
Ethan Kane Vernon
NSN CYCLING TEAM2:56:30
🥈
Tobias Lund Andresen
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+00
🥉
Laurence Pithie
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+00
4
Brady Gilmore
NSN CYCLING TEAM+00
5
Aaron Murray Gate
XDS ASTANA TEAM+00
6
Edoardo Zambanini
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+00
7
Samuel Watson
INEOS GRENADIERS+00
8
Anthon Charmig
UNO-X MOBILITY+00
9
Andrea Raccagni Noviero
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+00
10
Pierre Gautherat
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+00
11
Maikel Zijlaard
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+00
12
Patrick Eddy
Unknown+00
13
Tom Donnenwirth
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+00
14
Tim Torn Teutenberg
LIDL-TREK+00
15
Andreas Lorentz Kron
UNO-X MOBILITY+00
16
Matthew Brennan
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+00
17
Javier Romo Oliver
MOVISTAR TEAM+00
18
Mauro Schmid
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+00
19
Natnael Tesfatsion
MOVISTAR TEAM+00
20
Marco Brenner
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+00
21
Jensen Plowright
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+00
22
Lionel Taminiaux
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+00
23
Ben O'Connor
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+00
24
Matteo Sobrero
LIDL-TREK+00
25
Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez
MOVISTAR TEAM+00
26
Filippo Zana
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+00
27
Harrison Sweeny
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+00
28
Georg Zimmermann
Unknown+00
29
Jay Vine
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+00
30
Alberto Dainese
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+00
31
Embret Svestad-Bårdseng
INEOS GRENADIERS+00
32
Sam Oomen
LIDL-TREK+00
33
Michael Shea Leonard
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+00
34
Florian Samuel Kajamini
XDS ASTANA TEAM+00
35
Nicolas Prodhomme
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+00
36
Christopher Harper
Unknown+00
37
Tord Gudmestad
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+00
38
Anton Schiffer
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+00
39
Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda Hernandez
MOVISTAR TEAM+00
40
Christopher Hamilton
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+00
41
Florian Stork
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+00
42
Rudy Porter
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+00
43
Oliver Bleddyn
Unknown+00
44
Santiago Buitrago Sanchez
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+00
45
Jefferson Cepeda Ortiz
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+00
46
Guillaume Martin Guyonnet
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+00
47
Pascal Eenkhoorn
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+13
48
Luke Lamperti
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+18
49
Finn Lachlan Fox Fisher-Black
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+18
50
Ivo Emanuel Alves Oliveira
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+25
51
Simone Velasco
XDS ASTANA TEAM+25
52
Gal Glivar
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+25
53
Marco Schrettl
XDS ASTANA TEAM+25
54
Pavel Novák
MOVISTAR TEAM+25
55
Erik Nordsaeter Resell
UNO-X MOBILITY+25
56
Adam Richard Yates
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+25
57
Oscar Chamberlain
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+25
58
Damien Craig Howson
Unknown+36
59
Jack Haig
INEOS GRENADIERS+36
60
Enzo Paleni
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+36
61
James Knox
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+36
62
Nicholas Schultz
NSN CYCLING TEAM+36
63
Oliver Peace
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+36
64
Matthew Dinham
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+41
65
Lucas Stevenson
Unknown+41
66
Samuel Welsford
INEOS GRENADIERS+41
67
Alastair Mackellar
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+44
68
Anders Skaarseth
UNO-X MOBILITY+44
69
Manlio Moro
MOVISTAR TEAM+44
70
Luc Wirtgen
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+57
71
Fabio van den Bossche
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+58
72
Haimar Etxeberria Ansalas
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+1:01
73
Robert Stannard
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+1:01
74
Hamish Mckenzie
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+1:01
75
Lucas Plapp
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+1:01
76
Žak Eržen
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+1:01
77
Andrea Bagioli
LIDL-TREK+1:01
78
Francesco Busatto
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+1:01
79
Callum Scotson
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+1:03
80
Darren van Bekkum
XDS ASTANA TEAM+1:03
81
Davide Toneatti
XDS ASTANA TEAM+1:03
82
Ben Swift
INEOS GRENADIERS+1:03
83
Michal Kwiatkowski
INEOS GRENADIERS+1:03
84
Martin Bugge
UNO-X MOBILITY+1:03
85
Michael Gogl
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+1:13
86
Matthew Greenwood
Unknown+1:16
87
Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier
LIDL-TREK+1:16
88
Tim Marsman
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+1:19
89
Baptiste Veistroffer
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+1:19
90
Simon James Clarke
NSN CYCLING TEAM+1:22
91
Callum Thornley
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+1:25
92
Albert Torres Barcelo
MOVISTAR TEAM+1:28
93
Patrick Konrad
LIDL-TREK+1:28
94
Jacopo Mosca
LIDL-TREK+1:28
95
Luke Tuckwell
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+1:31
96
George Bennett
NSN CYCLING TEAM+1:31
97
Menno Huising
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+1:33
98
Pietro Mattio
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+1:33
99
Per Strand Hagenes
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+1:33
100
Jarrad Eriks Drizners
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+1:33
101
Petr Kelemen
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+1:37
102
Filippo Fiorelli
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+1:38
103
Lewis Bower
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+1:42
104
Alessandro Romele
XDS ASTANA TEAM+1:52
105
Reuben Thompson
Unknown+1:53
106
Titouan Fontaine
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+1:59
107
Pepijn Reinderink
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+2:12
108
Tim Rex
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+2:14
109
Luke Durbridge
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+2:16
110
Storm Ingebrigtsen
UNO-X MOBILITY+2:16
111
Casper Pedersen
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+2:19
112
Casper Cornelis van Uden
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+2:19
113
Fran Miholjević
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+2:19
114
Oliver Stockwell
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+2:22
115
Joel Suter
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+2:37
116
Matthew Fox
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+3:19
117
Max Walker
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+3:19
118
Niklas Märkl
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+3:24
119
Henri François Renard Haquin
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+3:45
120
Kelland O’Brien
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+4:21
121
Lucas Hamilton
INEOS GRENADIERS+4:21
122
Mikkel Norsgaard Bjerg
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+4:43
123
Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+4:51
124
Maurice Ballerstedt
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+8:32
125
Sente Sentjens
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+8:32
126
Stian Edvardsen-Fredheim
UNO-X MOBILITY+8:32

The original 176km queen stage, featuring three ascents of Willunga Hill, was cut to 131km after an "Extreme" fire danger rating and 45°C forecast prompted organisers to relocate the finish to the township and remove all climbing.

Early crash removes Narváez from GC battle

Defending champion Jhonatan Narváez went down within the opening 10km and abandoned under the concussion protocol. The Ecuadorian had entered the day second overall and was UAE's second GC option for the Stirling finale.

Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) attacked into a three-man break alongside Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United) and Matthew Greenwood (ARA Australia), building a gap exceeding three minutes that briefly made Plapp virtual race leader.

Picture by Zac Williams/SWpix.com - 24/01/2026 - Cycling - 2026 Tour Down Under - Stage 4 - Brighton to Willunga - Ethan Vernon, NSN Pro Cycling Team, wins Stage 4.
Image 1 of 3
Picture by Zac Williams/SWpix.com - 24/01/2026 - Cycling - 2026 Tour Down Under - Stage 4 - Brighton to Willunga - The peloton.
Image 2 of 3
Picture by Zac Williams/SWpix.com - 24/01/2026 - Cycling - 2026 Tour Down Under - Stage 4 - Brighton to Willunga - The peloton.
Image 3 of 3

Crosswinds cause Laengen crash

Nervousness through the McLaren Vale crosswind sections triggered a second crash at 84km, taking out Vegard Stake Laengen, another key UAE domestique. The break was caught 23.7km from the finish as Decathlon CMA CGM drove hard for Tobias Lund Andresen.

Multiple Decathlon riders inadvertently boxed in Lund Andresen with 200m remaining, allowing Vernon to launch.

"The boys did a really good job keeping me cool," Vernon said. "I saw guys suffering and I just kept calm."

Vine faces Stirling with reduced squad

Vine leads Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) by 1:03 and Harrison Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost) by 1:12, but enters Sunday's eight-lap Stirling circuit finale with just four teammates.

The repeated 4% drags to the Stirling finish line will be covered eight times, with UAE starting the stage with four support riders for Vine.

Cover image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com

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Peter

Peter Stuart

Editor

Peter is the editor of Velora and oversees Velora’s editorial strategy and content standards, bringing nearly 20 years of cycling journalism to the site. He was editor of Cyclingnews from 2022, introducing its digital membership strategy and expanding its content pillars. Before that he was digital editor at Cyclist, and then Rouleur. Before joining Cyclist in 2012, he completed freelance work for titles including The Times and The Telegraph. He has reported from Grand Tours and WorldTour races, and previously represented Great Britain as a rower.