The men's Tour Down Under kicks off Tuesday evening with the prologue time trial in Adelaide. The time difference created by the 5.5km loop around the River Torrens will reveal the true overall contenders, but the battle for the overall win will be subtle and close.

This is the first time the Tour Down Under has included a prologue time trial. Race director and former racer Stuart O'Grady wanted to mix up the format of the race, now that it has returned after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He replaced the final stage and the final decider on Willunga Hill with a perhaps harder final stage ending at the top of Mount Lofty overlooking downtown Adelaide.

"This race has been fought for seconds in the past. It mixes up the racing a little bit and is a great way to start this race. It will be a really interesting race," predicted Geraint Thomas, despite being ruled out due to a recurrence of an infection. [The course is technical and has some corners. It's the first big five minutes of the year, so it will hurt."

The women's Tour Down Under will conclude with a hilly road race on Tuesday, while the men's prologue will start in the evening when the forecast 37°C Australian summer temperature drops to 27°C.

The prologue time trial is a 5.5 km course that starts near the Adelaide Oval cricket ground, winding its way up through Adelaide Parks and the Torrens River, and then descending quickly towards the finish.

Athletes will use road race bikes, not time trial bikes. Aero bars are also not allowed, but skinsuits, disc wheels, and aero helmets may be used.

Cyclingnews has spoken to many teams over the past few days, and few riders have lowered or adjusted their handlebars or cockpits in an attempt to achieve a more aerodynamic position in the time trial. Instead, they try to gain aerodynamic gains by riding lower, but faster, on their road bikes.

Rohan Dennis (Jumbo Visma) from Adelaide is a logical favorite as a former time trial world champion. It will be interesting to see how he performs on a road bike and whether he is in shape to win the overall.

Thomas predicted good things from his young teammates Ethan Hayter, Magnus Sheffield, and Australian road race champion Luke Plapp.

Others include Kayden Groves (Alpecin Deceuninck), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education Easypost), Michael Stoller (Groupama FDJ), Brian Coquard (Cofidis), Jordi Meeus ( Bora-Hansgrohe), and perhaps even the new Australian time trial champion, Jay Vine, could be in contention for the overall win.

Criterium winner and Australian representative Caleb Yuan may also use his power and speed to win.

Since arriving in Adelaide, the teams have been studying each other's form and gathering in the team area for daily training rides.

One experienced director Sportif, who was not aware of Pero Bilbao's form last week, warned Cycling News that the Bahrain Victorious riders were apparently in good shape and looking for an overall win.

Team Jayco Alura lamented the absence of their home World Tour race as they fight to avoid relegation in 2021 and 2022. They once again set their sights on winning the Tour Down Under, convincing Classic leader Michael Matthews and stage race leader Simon Yates to make the trip Down Under and peak earlier in January.The Jayco AlUla team includes, Luke Durbridge, Lucas Hamilton, Michael Hepburn, Chris Harper, and Kiwi Campbell Stewart.

Matthews would fight for GC by earning bonus seconds in the stages. On the other hand, Yates' aggressive climbing style would be ideal for an overall win if the race becomes too selective for Matthews.

"Everyone runs their own race. We will run our race and the GC-focused racers will run there," Matthews said seriously about Jayco Aroura and his rivals' ambitions.

"We know our strengths and so do they. They will try to get rid of us on the climbs and we will try to make up for it with intermediate sprints and time bonuses at the stage finishes. If that proves to be too difficult for me, I have a backup plan. I'm going to try."

Matthews is not a famous time triallist, but he is fast, powerful, and hungry.

Cycling News heard from Tom Southam, EF Education - Easy Post's Directeur Sportif, that Matthews won the 6.1km Paris to Nice prologue time trial in 2016, beating Tom Dumoulin and Pat Bevin heard.

Matthews acknowledged that the time trial was essential in his strategy for the overall win, and that victory and time difference were the ideal outcome on Tuesday.

"I think that's everyone's plan. Once you control this race, then it's a lot easier because there are short stages and a lot of intermediate sprints," Matthews said.

"Everyone needs to make as much time as possible in the prologue because this race is always down to seconds. I think the course set up by Stuart O'Grady is long enough to create a time difference, but the difference will still be quite small."

"I'm not sure how long the course will be, but I think it will be long enough to create a time difference.

"That's our goal and we'll see what we can do from there. We've worked hard for that and hopefully it will pay off this week."