Jay vine Wins Tour Down Under After Kangaroo Collision
Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates won the Tour Down Under on January 25, 2026, in Stirling, Australia, despite a dramatic crash caused by a kangaroo during the final stage. Vine, who had a 1 minute, 3 second lead in the general classification, was involved in a collision with a kangaroo while the peloton was traveling at approximately 50 kph (30 mph).
He managed to rejoin the race after changing bikes twice, finishing 1 minute, 3 seconds ahead of Mauro Schmid and Harry Sweeny.Vine humorously remarked that kangaroos are the most risky thing in Australia, proving his point with the incident.
The race was already challenging for Vine, as two of his teammates, including defending champion Jhonatan Narvaez, had crashed out earlier in the tour. Another teammate, Juan Sebastian Molano, abandoned the race due to fatigue.
Tragically, one of the kangaroos involved in the collision was euthanized, while the other escaped unharmed. The incident also affected other riders, with Menno Huising of Team Visma being hit by a kangaroo and impacting his team’s sprint coordination.
matthew Brennan of Britain (Team Visma) won the final stage in a sprint finish.This marks Vine’s second victory in his home race in three years.
