2023 Santos Tour Down Under (World Tour), Australia

23rd edition: January 15 - January 22, 2023

Men's Prologue Time Trial: January 17

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Tuesday, January 17: Prologue 5.5 km individual time trial

Prologue map & profile | Prologue photos

Alberto Bettiol on his way to winning the stage and the GC leadership. Sirotti photo

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The race: Here's the race organizer's prologue report.

Italy’s Alberto Bettiol will wear the leader’s jersey at Tanunda tomorrow as heavy rain marred the historic Santos Tour Down Under efex prologue at the Adelaide Riverbank.

Bettiol was an early starter at the picturesque city circuit which lit up a muggy Tuesday night.

Bettiol was almost apologetic for deciding to start the prologue fourth off the ramp.

He now has an eight-second lead before stage 1 pedals off over second-placed Magnus Sheffield from Ineos Grenadiers.

Sheffield will wear the young rider’s jersey on Wednesday.

“I feel really lucky, and, at the same time I knew I could do well,’’ Bettiol said. “There are better riders, especially in the prologue, the weather of Australia helped me and in the end, I really appreciate the effort that all my team gave me to give me the best support.

“I just had to pedal full gas for six and a half minutes.”   

Bettiol, 29, from EF Education-EasyPost and a Giro D’Italia 2021 stage winner finished the circuit in 6min19 sec averaging 52km/h.

His teammate Mikkel Honore was the first casualty of the evening after he crashed despite being ultra-cautious on a corner.

The Dane dusted himself down and finished the time trial in 5min24sec.  

Bettiol said he plans on keeping the ochre jersey at Mount Lofty on Sunday before the Ziptrak Stage 1 Tanunda to Tanunda pedals off, as 139 riders started the time trial with more than half the peloton enduring soaking rain.

South Australia’s world-class time trialist Rohan Dennis from Jumbo Visma’s effort was also determined by the wet deck.

The two-time time trial world champion ended his shift 17 seconds behind Bettiol.

And three current national time trial champions were on parade including Australia’s Jay Vine (UAE), Great Britain’s Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) and Canada’s Derek Gee (Israel Premier Tech).   

Jayco AlUla's star Michael Matthews was solid in wet conditions but couldn’t take time from Bettiol.

Multiple Grand Tour champion Chris Froome’s time trial was also marred by summer rain.

Israel Premier Tech’s Froome negotiated the track with utmost caution along the Riverbank and Torrens Bridge before completing the 5.5km course in 7min16 sec.   

Australia’s Giro D’Italia winner Jai Hindley from Bora-hansgrohe didn’t take any risks as a second bout of heavy rain made conditions extra dangerous to finish in 7min3sec.

The prologue is an individual time trial where the rider’s times count towards GC for the Santos Tour Down Under.

The peloton used their usual road bikes rather than the custom time trial bikes with riders able to wear aero helmets, skin suits and time trial wheels for the event.

Complete results:

5.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 52.14 km/hr

1	Alberto Bettiol	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	6min 19.7sec
2	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS GRENADIERS	@ 8.04sec
3	Julius Johansen	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+9''64
4	Kaden Groves	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+10''36
5	Samuel Gaze	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+10''69
6	Hugo Page	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+12''02
7	Marius Mayrhofer	TEAM DSM	+12''34
8	Jannik Steimle	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+13''16
9	Jay Vine	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+13''89
10	Michael Matthews	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+13''97
11	Nikias Arndt	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+15''01
12	Kevin Ledanois	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	+15''04
13	Corbin Strong	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+15''60
14	Miles Scotson	GROUPAMA-FDJ	+15''79
15	Rohan Dennis	JUMBO-VISMA	+16''35
16	Michael Vink	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+16''63
17	Patrick Bevin	TEAM DSM	+16''73
18	Marc Brustenga	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+17''43
19	Derek Gee	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+17''50
20	Lorenzo Germani	GROUPAMA-FDJ	+17''79
21	Ethan Hayter	INEOS GRENADIERS	+18''74
22	James Moriarty	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	+18''94
23	Chris Harper	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+19''13
24	Lucas Plapp	INEOS GRENADIERS	+19''53
25	Pello Bilbao	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+20''17
26	Michael Gogl	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+20''68
27	Sven Erik Bystrom	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+20''99
28	Mauro Schmid	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+21''67
29	Matthew Dinham	TEAM DSM	+22''43
30	Dion Smith	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+22''92
31	Dorian Godon	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	+22''92
32	Leo Hayter	INEOS GRENADIERS	+23''57
33	Antonio Tiberi	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+24''28
34	Jos Van Emden	JUMBO-VISMA	+24''57
35	Dries Devenyns	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+24''65
36	Timo Roosen	JUMBO-VISMA	+25''15
37	Gianni Moscon	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	+26''07
38	Simon Yates	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+26''12
39	Filippo Baroncini	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+26''43
40	Paul Lapeira	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	+26''69
41	Ben O'Connor	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	+27''19
42	Gorka Izagirre	MOVISTAR TEAM	+27''44
43	Marc Hirschi	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+27''63
44	Maximilian Schachmann	BORA-HANSGROHE	+28''13
45	Alexis Renard	COFIDIS	+28''17
46	Laurence Pithie	GROUPAMA-FDJ	+28''79
47	Graeme Frislie	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	+28''93
48	Marco Haller	BORA-HANSGROHE	+29''01
49	Mattia Cattaneo	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+29''25
50	Taj Jones	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+29''46
51	Milan Vader	JUMBO-VISMA	+29''62
52	Natnael Tesfazion	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+30''04
53	Robert Stannard	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+30''08
54	Tony Gallopin	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+30''19
55	Kim Heiduk	INEOS GRENADIERS	+30''30
56	Rudy Molard	GROUPAMA-FDJ	+30''59
57	Stan Van Tricht	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+30''83
58	Liam Walsh	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	+30''90
59	Victor Lafay	COFIDIS	+30''92
60	Sjoerd Bax	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+31''09
61	Jasha Dimitri Sutterlin	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+31''14
62	Cameron Scott	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+31''41
63	Hermann Pernsteiner	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+31''45
64	Sebastian Berwick	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+31''65
65	Lucas Hamilton	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+31''73
66	Campbell Stewart	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+32''31
67	Johan Jacobs	MOVISTAR TEAM	+33''39
68	Bryan Coquard	COFIDIS	+33''53
69	Simon Clarke	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+33''97
70	Daryl Impey	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+34''32
71	Manuele Boaro	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	+34''41
72	Ewen Costiou	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	+34''43
73	Jarrad Drizners	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	+34''82
74	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	+34''99
75	Shane Archbold	BORA-HANSGROHE	+35''01
76	George Bennett	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+35''24
77	Luis Guillermo Mas	MOVISTAR TEAM	+35''69
78	Conor Leahy	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	+35''92
79	Martijn Tusveld	TEAM DSM	+35''99
80	Alessandro Verre	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	+37''16
81	Jensen Plowright	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+38''12
82	Ivan Romeo Abad	MOVISTAR TEAM	+38''27
83	Taco Van Der Hoorn	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+38''31
84	Ben Swift	INEOS GRENADIERS	+38''64
85	Giovanni Aleotti	BORA-HANSGROHE	+38''90
86	Paul Penhoet	GROUPAMA-FDJ	+39''07
87	Senne Leysen	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+39''87
88	Luis Leon Sanchez	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	+40''03
89	Asbjorn Hellemose	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+40''27
90	Reuben Thompson	GROUPAMA-FDJ	+40''32
91	Michael Schar	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	+40''56
92	Andre Rodrigues De Carvalho	COFIDIS	+40''57
93	Imanol Erviti	MOVISTAR TEAM	+41''28
94	Fabio Felline	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	+41''33
95	Jordi Meeus	BORA-HANSGROHE	+41''47
96	Harrison Wood	COFIDIS	+41''67
97	Hugo Hofstetter	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	+42''07
98	Martin Laas	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	+42''84
99	Jonas Rutsch	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	+43''37
100	Jai Hindley	BORA-HANSGROHE	+44''03
101	Geraint Thomas	INEOS GRENADIERS	+44''27
102	Christopher Hamilton	TEAM DSM	+44''44
103	Oscar Riesebeek	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+44''59
104	Zachary Marriage	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	+44''84
105	Mathis Le Berre	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	+44''93
106	Robert Gesink	JUMBO-VISMA	+45''10
107	James Knox	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+45''67
108	Elie Gesbert	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	+46''18
109	Francois Bidard	COFIDIS	+47''45
110	Lukasz Owsian	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	+47''94
111	Martin Svrcek	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+48''49
112	Damien Touze	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	+49''02
113	Caleb Ewan	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	+49''10
114	Leonardo Basso	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	+49''12
115	Michael Storer	GROUPAMA-FDJ	+49''14
116	Romain Combaud	TEAM DSM	+50''72
117	Emils Liepins	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+50''98
118	Alex Baudin	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	+52''24
119	Luke Durbridge	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+53''22
120	Tim Naberman	TEAM DSM	+53''22
121	Tim Van Dijke	JUMBO-VISMA	+53''61
122	Dmitriy Gruzdev	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	+54''11
123	Kamil Michal Gradek	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+54''80
124	Thomas Scully	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	+54''95
125	Nans Peters	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	+55''69
126	Christopher Froome	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+56''76
127	Jens Keukeleire	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	+56''95
128	Luis-Joe Luhrs	BORA-HANSGROHE	+58''66
129	Lennard Hofstede	JUMBO-VISMA	+59''04
130	Boy Van Poppel	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+59''16
131	Gerben Thijssen	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+59''33
132	Davide Cimolai	COFIDIS	+1'00''20
133	Michael Hepburn	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+1'02''25
134	Alessandro Covi	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+1'05''68
135	Phil Bauhaus	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+1'06''55
136	Finn Fisher-Black	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+1'08''92
137	Mikkel Honore	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	+1'18''26
138	Sergio Samitier	MOVISTAR TEAM	+1'32''99
139	Sean Quinn	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	+2'20''03

 

GC after the prologue:

• GC leader: Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost)
• Best young rider: Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grnadiers)
• Team classification leader: Alpecin-Deceuninck)

1	Alberto Bettiol	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	6min 19sec
2	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS GRENADIERS	@ 8sec
3	Julius Johansen	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+10''
4	Kaden Groves	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+11''
5	Samuel Gaze	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	s.t.
6	Hugo Page	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+12''
7	Marius Mayrhofer	TEAM DSM	+13''
8	Jannik Steimle	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
9	Jay Vine	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+14''
10	Michael Matthews	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	s.t.
11	Nikias Arndt	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+15''
12	Kevin Ledanois	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	s.t.
13	Corbin Strong	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+16''
14	Miles Scotson	GROUPAMA-FDJ	s.t.
15	Rohan Dennis	JUMBO-VISMA	+17''
16	Michael Vink	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
17	Patrick Bevin	TEAM DSM	s.t.
18	Marc Brustenga	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+18''
19	Derek Gee	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	s.t.
20	Lorenzo Germani	GROUPAMA-FDJ	s.t.
21	Ethan Hayter	INEOS GRENADIERS	+19''
22	James Moriarty	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
23	Chris Harper	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	s.t.
24	Lucas Plapp	INEOS GRENADIERS	+20''
25	Pello Bilbao	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
26	Michael Gogl	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+21''
27	Sven Erik Bystrom	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	s.t.
28	Mauro Schmid	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+22''
29	Matthew Dinham	TEAM DSM	+23''
30	Dion Smith	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	s.t.
31	Dorian Godon	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	s.t.
32	Leo Hayter	INEOS GRENADIERS	+24''
33	Antonio Tiberi	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+25''
34	Jos Van Emden	JUMBO-VISMA	s.t.
35	Dries Devenyns	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
36	Timo Roosen	JUMBO-VISMA	s.t.
37	Gianni Moscon	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	+26''
38	Simon Yates	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	s.t.
39	Filippo Baroncini	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+27''
40	Paul Lapeira	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	s.t.
41	Ben O'Connor	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	s.t.
42	Gorka Izagirre	MOVISTAR TEAM	+28''
43	Marc Hirschi	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
44	Maximilian Schachmann	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
45	Alexis Renard	COFIDIS	s.t.
46	Laurence Pithie	GROUPAMA-FDJ	+29''
47	Graeme Frislie	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
48	Marco Haller	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
49	Mattia Cattaneo	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
50	Taj Jones	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+30''
51	Milan Vader	JUMBO-VISMA	s.t.
52	Natnael Tesfazion	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
53	Robert Stannard	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	s.t.
54	Tony Gallopin	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
55	Kim Heiduk	INEOS GRENADIERS	+31''
56	Rudy Molard	GROUPAMA-FDJ	s.t.
57	Stan Van Tricht	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	s.t.
58	Liam Walsh	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
59	Victor Lafay	COFIDIS	s.t.
60	Sjoerd Bax	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
61	Jasha Dimitri Sutterlin	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
62	Cameron Scott	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+32''
63	Hermann Pernsteiner	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	s.t.
64	Sebastian Berwick	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	s.t.
65	Lucas Hamilton	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	s.t.
66	Campbell Stewart	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+33''
67	Johan Jacobs	MOVISTAR TEAM	+34''
68	Bryan Coquard	COFIDIS	s.t.
69	Simon Clarke	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	s.t.
70	Daryl Impey	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+35''
71	Manuele Boaro	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
72	Ewen Costiou	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	s.t.
73	Jarrad Drizners	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
74	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	s.t.
75	Shane Archbold	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
76	George Bennett	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	s.t.
77	Luis Guillermo Mas	MOVISTAR TEAM	+36''
78	Conor Leahy	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
79	Martijn Tusveld	TEAM DSM	s.t.
80	Alessandro Verre	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	+37''
81	Jensen Plowright	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+38''
82	Ivan Romeo Abad	MOVISTAR TEAM	+39''
83	Taco Van Der Hoorn	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	s.t.
84	Ben Swift	INEOS GRENADIERS	s.t.
85	Giovanni Aleotti	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
86	Paul Penhoet	GROUPAMA-FDJ	s.t.
87	Senne Leysen	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	+40''
88	Luis Leon Sanchez	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
89	Asbjorn Hellemose	TREK-SEGAFREDO	+41''
90	Reuben Thompson	GROUPAMA-FDJ	s.t.
91	Michael Schar	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	s.t.
92	Andre Rodrigues De Carvalho	COFIDIS	s.t.
93	Imanol Erviti	MOVISTAR TEAM	+42''
94	Fabio Felline	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
95	Jordi Meeus	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
96	Harrison Wood	COFIDIS	s.t.
97	Hugo Hofstetter	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	s.t.
98	Martin Laas	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	+43''
99	Jonas Rutsch	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	+44''
100	Jai Hindley	BORA-HANSGROHE	s.t.
101	Geraint Thomas	INEOS GRENADIERS	+45''
102	Christopher Hamilton	TEAM DSM	s.t.
103	Oscar Riesebeek	ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	s.t.
104	Zachary Marriage	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
105	Mathis Le Berre	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	s.t.
106	Robert Gesink	JUMBO-VISMA	s.t.
107	James Knox	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+46''
108	Elie Gesbert	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	s.t.
109	Francois Bidard	COFIDIS	time
110	Lukasz Owsian	TEAM ARKEA-SAMSIC	s.t.
111	Martin Svrcek	SOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+49''
112	Damien Touze	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	s.t.
113	Caleb Ewan	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM	s.t.
114	Leonardo Basso	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
115	Michael Storer	GROUPAMA-FDJ	s.t.
116	Romain Combaud	TEAM DSM	+51''
117	Emils Liepins	TREK-SEGAFREDO	s.t.
118	Alex Baudin	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	+52''
119	Luke Durbridge	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+53''
120	Tim Naberman	TEAM DSM	s.t.
121	Tim Van Dijke	JUMBO-VISMA	+54''
122	Dmitriy Gruzdev	ASTANA QAZAQSTAN TEAM	s.t.
123	Kamil Michal Gradek	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+55''
124	Thomas Scully	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	s.t.
125	Nans Peters	AG2R CITROEN TEAM	+56''
126	Christopher Froome	ISRAEL PREMIER TECH	+57''
127	Jens Keukeleire	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	s.t.
128	Luis-Joe Luhrs	BORA-HANSGROHE	+59''
129	Lennard Hofstede	JUMBO-VISMA	s.t.
130	Boy Van Poppel	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	s.t.
131	Gerben Thijssen	INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY	+1'00''
132	Davide Cimolai	COFIDIS	s.t.
133	Michael Hepburn	TEAM JAYCO-ALULA	+1'02''
134	Alessandro Covi	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+1'06''
135	Phil Bauhaus	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+1'07''
136	Finn Fisher-Black	UAE TEAM EMIRATES	+1'09''
137	Mikkel Honore	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	+1'18''
138	Sergio Samitier	MOVISTAR TEAM	+1'33''
139	Sean Quinn	EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST	+2'20''

---

Course map & profile:

Prologue map

Prologue profile

Prologue photos by Fotorepoter Sirotti:

Tony Gallopin

Corbin Strong

British time trial champion Ethan Hayter

Rohan Dennis

Alberto Bettiol on his way to winning the prologue.

Prologue winner Alberto Bettiol enjoys his victory.

After the awards ceremony, Bettiol shows the Italian flag.