The Australian summer of professional road racing has ended on a high. The sweep from west to east – that started in Perth with the national title chase and continued in South Australia at the Santos Tour Down Under, ended in Geelong with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
The final week of racing included the Surf Coast Classic, added for the women as well as the men in 2025. In both races it all came down to a sprint in Torquay, though not without a fight, as Ally Wollaston (FDJ-Suez) and Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic Post NL) claimed the top steps on Wednesday and Thursday.
The weekend delivered the main events, the women's and men's WorldTour Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the first one-day races of the 2025 WorldTour.
The 142km women's race was on Saturday and was raced in relatively mild 27°C. The peloton was torn to shreds before the finish on the waterfront in Geelong but the threat of a sprint remained and Wollaston made it two for two.
For Sunday's men's race, the temperature touched 40°C, adding a huge extra challenge on top of the already arduous 184km course.
