Australia’s Tour Down Under will become the first UCI World Tour race to stage men’s and women’s stages on the same course and day, covering identical distances. The 2027 opener launches a six‑stage men’s contest on 19 January, followed by a three‑stage women’s race starting 22 January for the first time.

Carlee Taylor, assistant race director, praised the move as a platform to showcase the strength of the women’s peloton. In 2018 the event became the first to offer equal prize money, but the women raced before the men until now. The new format tightens the early‑season window in Australia.

Stuart O’Grady, race director, said the UCI challenge forced a condensed programme that optimises women’s time in Australia. He saw it as a chance to bring both genders together and cap the season with a “bumper” final weekend. The change narrows the gap before the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

By aligning the routes, the Tour Down Under sets a precedent for global races that now host men’s and women’s events on the same day but different distances, like Paris‑Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. The new schedule tightens the early‑season calendar, giving Australian women riders a shorter leap to the Great Ocean Road Race.