When in Australia, you have to anticipate wildlife interference. The Tour Down Under had a major crash caused by a kangaroo.

Two rogue kangaroos caused chaos at the Tour Down Under after jumping into cyclists mid-race. Speaking after the race, Jay Vine said, "Two of them blasted through the peloton as we were doing probably 50km an hour and one of them stopped, went left, right, left, right, and I ended up hitting its backside". Despite the crash, Jay Vine went on to win his second Tour Down Under, having first achieved the feat in 2023.

Australian Jay Vine wins the Tour Down Under - despite being knocked off his bike in a crash caused by a kangaroo.

The final stage of the Tour Down Under ran into a very Australian problem.

Australia's Jay Vine was knocked down by a kangaroo on the final stage Sunday but recovered to win the Tour Down Under cycle race, the first event of the 2026 World Tour. Vine was knocked from his bike when two large kangaroos bounced onto the road on a high speed section with about 96 kilometers (61 miles) left in the undulating 169.8 kilometer (105 mile) stage through the hills around Adelaide. Three riders — Menno Huising, Lucas Stevenson and Alberto Dainese — were forced to quit the race and the kangaroo also was injured.

Watch highlights from Stage 5 of the 2026 Tour Down Under, where riders dealt with the most Australian of obstacles on the final day: a pair of kangaroos disrupting the peloton and causing race leader Jay Vine to crash.

Watch highlights from the men's Stage 4 race at the 2026 Tour Down Under in Australia, where riders had to deal with a change of plans after the iconic Wilunga Hill was removed from the course due to the weather.

Britain's Ethan Vernon won the dramatic fourth stage of the Tour Down Under cycle race Saturday which was shortened because of high temperatures and which saw defending champion Jhonatan Narvaez forced to abandon the tour after crashing. Narvaez's UAE Team Emirates teammate Jay Vine of Australia retains a lead of more than a minute on general classification ahead of the final stage of the tour on Sunday. Instead, the stage was reduced to 131 kilometers (81 miles) as temperatures soared over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and the final climbs were removed because of the extreme fire risk on the bush-clad hill.

Watch highlights from the finish of the men's Stage 3 race at the 2026 Tour Down Under in Australia, where Australian cyclist Sam Welsford finished strong, sprinted to the line and won a chaotic, hilly and tough Stage 3.