Rohan Dennis was the overall winner of the Tour Down Under in 2015 ©Getty Images

Australia’s Rohan Dennis is preparing to start his defence of the Tour Down Under with the first International Cycling Union (UCI) men’s WorldTour race of the season due to begin tomorrow.

Home fans have witnessed their cyclists claim the overall victory in four of the past five editions of the race, including Simon Gerrans earning victories in both 2012 and 2014.

The six-day race is scheduled to begin with a 130 kilometres stage from Prospect to the town of Lyndoch, located just outside of Adelaide.

Following the climber friendly 151km stage five, taking place from McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill, the overall race winner is set to be confirmed, before the final stage in Adelaide will offer the sprinters a final chance of victory on Saturday (January 23.

Prior to the race, the 51km People's Choice Classic was held in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, with the flat course suiting team’s sprinters.

Orica-GreenEdge’s Caleb Ewan, winner of the Australian National Criterium Championships earlier this month, earned victory ahead of Italy’s Giacomo Nizzolo and Britain’s Adam Blythe in a time of 1 hour 02min 25sec.

As part of the WorldTour calendar, all 18 registered teams have been invited to participate in the Tour Down Under, with Dimension Data set to become the first African team to compete at top-tier racing status after their application was approved in November.

Caleb Ewan won the People's Choice Classic, which precedes the Tour Down Under
Caleb Ewan won the People's Choice Classic, which precedes the Tour Down Under ©Getty Images

Both the Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico stage races are then due to be held in March as the WorldTour continues, prior to Milan-San Remo on March 19.

The cobbled classics E3 Harelbeke, Gent–Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders will be held in Belgium at the end of  March and beginning of April, before Germany’s John Degenkolb vies for back-to-back victories at Paris Roubaix on April 4.

Fleche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège will be held in Belgium during April, with teams then set to make preparations for the first Grand Tour, the Giro d’Italia, which will take place from May 6 to 29.

Teams will then look to hone preparations for the Tour de France, at either the Tour de Suisse or the Critérium du Dauphiné in June.

The second Grand Tour of the year will see Chris Froome bid for a third title from July 2 to 24, while shortly after the majority of the peloton compete at the Rio 2016 Olympics, the Vuelta a España will take place between August 20 to September 11.

The one-day Tour of Lombardy is currently the final race on the WorldTour calendar, with racing due to be held on October 1.