'It’s great for me and the team to start the season like this' – Britain's Sam Watson and Ineos Grenadiers win first WorldTour race of 2026

Sam Watson won the first WorldTour race of 2026, taking victory for Ineos Grenadiers in the Tour Down Under prologue.

British national champion on the road, the 24-year-old swapped the red, white and blue bands for his team's new orange jersey on Tuesday, but then swapped it again for the ochre leader's jersey at the end of the stage.

The 3.6km-long course was suited for a rider like Watson, who won the prologue at the Tour de Romandie last year and came second in the same discipline at the Lidl Deutschland Tour. Monday was his second WorldTour win, completed at 50.448km/h.

He was the 11th rider off in the Adelaide evening, and set a time that would not be beaten for the two hours that he spent in the hot seat; the closest challenger was Ethan Vernon (NSN Cycling), who finished minutes after Watson, but only 0.59 of a second down.

Third was Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), two seconds behind Watson, with home favourite Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in third.

"There were quite a lot of guys [to watch for]," Watson said post-race. "Just as I climbed off the bike, Ethan Vernon came across the line. He was 0.5 behind me. I knew he’d be a contender, and maybe I wouldn’t have even made it to the hot seat.

"Obviously then it was a big sigh of relief for myself," he said of when Vine finished last, clearly behind himself. "I’m so happy to start the season with a win.

"I’m not complaining [of changing jersey], I’m leading the race now. It’s great for myself and the team to start the season like this."

Ineos Grenadiers will attempt to make it two from two WorldTour races on Tuesday, with a bunch sprint finish in Tanunda on the menu. The British team will target the win with their new Australian sprinter Sam Welsford, who has won the points competition in the last two editions.

"We go 100% for him," Watson explained. "He’s won here six times in the last two years, so it’s all for him.

"[I'm the] last or second-last leadout guy. It depends how it is on the day, we’ve got Swifty [Ben Swift] too, who has a lot of experience. Whatever Sam prefers, but I’ll be up there towards the end."

Ineos Grenadiers waited until February for their first win of 2025, Egan Bernal's victory in the TT at the Colombian National Championships. This season, things have got off to a flier early.