Preview: From Prospect to Lyndoch as TDU gets serious

THE Tour Down Under riders get serious with the 130.8km first stage of the 2016 event.

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THE Tour Down Under riders get serious, with the 130.8km first stage of the 2016 event.

The TDU opens with a day for the sprinters, and the stage winner will be rewarded with the Ochre Jersey.

Expect an early breakaway to be caught because the sprinters’ teams will be doing everything to make sure the race comes back together - unlike last year when the breakaway held on to win the opening stage.

The finish into Lyndoch will see the peloton take a tight left hand turn before they race for honours in the main street.

Riders will head off from Prospect at 11am for Lyndoch.

The race finishes with a circuit which will take riders through the township four times.

MORE: Stage 1 map

By the time the 130.8km course is finished, a King of the Mountains contest and two sprints will have been held.

The KoM section will take riders up North East Rd, Lower Hermitage, near Range Rd.

Two sprints will be held on Williamstown Rd, Cockatoo Valley (near the general store) as part of the laps through Lyndoch and Williamstown.

The winning rider is expected to cross the finish line at about 2.34pm.