Tour Down Under 2027 weather: what race week usually feels like

The Santos Tour Down Under, the first race of each UCI WorldTour season, runs its 2027 men's race from Tuesday 19 to Sunday 24 January: six stages and about 874 km around Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa and the Fleurieu Peninsula. The women's race rides the last three of the same stages. Here's what that week has usually felt like, stage by stage.

What will the weather be like at the Tour Down Under 2027?

Usually warm, dry and fairly calm. A typical stage day reached about 26–28° in the Adelaide Hills and the Barossa, and about 24° on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Rain fell on 1 to 2 days in 10 at each stage. Windline's engine rated five of the six stages Good on 6 to 7 days in 10.

The heat is the thing to watch. On the inland stages, the route reached 30° or more on about 3 to 4 days in 10, and 35° or more on 1 to 2. The wind is usually light and turns through the day: from the south-east at about 13 km/h in the morning, and from the south or south-west at about 15 km/h by mid-afternoon, gusting to about 35 to 40 km/h.

Where does the wind usually help, and where does it hurt?

Mostly it's too light to matter. On five of the six stages, the wind cost about 1 to 3% extra effort on the middle day. The exception is Stage 4, which heads south from Glenelg into the afternoon southerly: about 11% extra effort on the middle day, and 15% or more on about 4 days in 10.

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Where stages share roads in the Adelaide Hills, the later stage is drawn on top. The numbers are timed for the men's race at each stage's scheduled speed. The women's race starts 90 minutes later, at 12:10, so it rides Stages 4 to 6 later into the afternoon breeze.

What is each stage likely to feel like?

Each stage, with its usual day hour by hour.

Stage 1: Henley Beach to Gumeracha, Tuesday 19 January

From the beach north to Port Adelaide, then into the Adelaide Hills for three climbs of Checker Hill before the finish in Gumeracha. Rated Good on 6 days in 10, with the wind costing about 1%. Heat is its main risk: 30° or more on the route on about 4 days in 10, and 46° on the hottest day in the records.

Stage 2: the Angaston loop, Wednesday 20 January

A loop through the Barossa from Angaston, over Menglers Hill three times and uphill to the finish. Rated Good on 7 days in 10. The day usually reached about 28°, and 30° or more on about 4 days in 10, but the wind barely registered.

Stage 3: Lobethal to Campbelltown, Thursday 21 January

Through the Adelaide Hills over Mount Lofty and twice up Corkscrew Road, finishing in Campbelltown about 5 km after the second climb. Rated Good on 6 days in 10. The day usually reached about 26°, but 35° or more on 1 to 2 days in 10, and 46° on the hottest day in the records.

Stage 4: Glenelg to Victor Harbor, Friday 22 January

The stage most likely to hurt, and the women's first stage. It runs south from Glenelg through the hills to the Fleurieu Peninsula, into the afternoon southerly. It was rated Good on only 4 days in 10, and the wind added 15% or more effort on about 4. The hardest stretch was usually from Clarendon through McLaren Vale to Aldinga Beach, about km 28 to 60. It's one of the coolest stages, at about 24°. By 15:00, with the women's race on the same road, the southerly had usually built to about 16 km/h.

Stage 5: Christies Beach to Willunga Hill, Saturday 23 January

East to the first ascent of Coxs Hill, a loop through McLaren Vale and Aldinga, then Willunga Hill twice, the second time to finish. Rated Good on 7 days in 10, at about 24°, with the wind usually costing about 3%.

Stage 6: Norwood to Stirling, Sunday 24 January

Straight into the Adelaide Hills from Norwood over Norton Summit, then a long loop through Birdwood, Lobethal and Hahndorf to a lap of Stirling and the finish. Rated Good on 7 days in 10. Crosswind gusts were the most common reason for a harder day, on about 2 days in 10, then heat: 30° or more on about 3 days in 10.

Which stage is likely to be toughest?

Stage 4 for the wind, and Stages 1 and 3 for the heat. Stage 4 had the fewest Good days, 4 in 10, lost mostly to the southerly. Stages 1 and 3 had the hottest days in the records, 46°. Stages 2, 5 and 6 are the likeliest easy days, each rated Good on 7 days in 10.

What should spectators bring to the roadside?

Sun protection first: the race passes in the warmest hours of the day. The organiser's stage pages list the sprints, the climbs and the times the race is due. From the weather records:

• A hat, sunscreen and water in the Hills and the Barossa. The route reached 30° or more on about 3 to 4 days in 10 on the inland stages, and 35° or more on 1 to 2.
• Shade on the hottest days. The hottest days in the records reached 44 to 46° on the inland stages.
• A light layer on the coast. Victor Harbor and Willunga were about 24° in the afternoon southerly.
• Little need for rain gear. Rain fell on 1 to 2 days in 10, and during the race on fewer than 1.

When does the real forecast open?

Ten days before each stage, in the Windline app: Stage 1's on 9 January, Stage 6's on 14 January. Load a stage's route with your own pace, and Windline rates the day Good, Fair or Tough from the forecast, with the wind on every stretch at the hour you'll get there. From then on, trust the forecast over this preview.

How did we work this out?

Each stage was ridden again on every day from a week before to a week after its date, in each year from 2015 to 2024: 150 days per stage. Each ride followed the organiser's stage GPX from the men's 10:40 start at a steady speed that reaches the scheduled finish time, about 42 to 44 km/h, on that day's hourly Copernicus ERA5 weather. Windline's engine, the same one the apps use, rated each ride.

The day's high and its rain are for the local day at the middle of each stage. A wet day has 1 mm of rain or more. ERA5's grid cells are about 25 km across, so valley winds, shelter, the sea breeze on the coast and the heat in the city don't fully show, and a pro race's speed changes with the racing and the climbs. Historic weather, not a forecast.

Sources: the Santos Tour Down Under's stages page and stage pages (the dates, the men's and women's start and finish times and places, the distances, the route notes and each stage's GPX file), and its home page (the festival dates, 16 to 24 January 2027); ERA5 hourly time series (Hersbach et al., 2020). Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (2026). Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.