The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race will return to its pre-pandemic format in 2024 with the revival of the midweek races for elite men and women in the build-up to the main events.
The racing gets underway on the evening of Wednesday, January 24 with the women’s Geelong Classic and continues the following day with the men’s 1.1-ranked Surf Coast Classic.
The Deakin University Elite Women’s Road Race takes place on Saturday, January 27, before the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race for elite men brings the curtain down on the slate of racing in Victoria.
“The mid-week races will be a perfect tune up for the teams and riders ahead of an action-packed weekend of cycling,” race director Scott Sunderland said in a statement released on Friday.
The Geelong Classic will see the elite women tackle 25 laps of a 2km circuit around the Botanical Gardens and Waterfront, with Sunderland billing the event as providing “just over an hour of relentless, aggressive street-style racing.”
Known as Race Torquay when it was previously held at UCI level in 2020, the Surf Coast Classic for elite men covers 150km from Lorne to Torquay. Sam Bennett won the 2020 edition in a bunch sprint ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo and Alberto Dainese.
“With an incredible and breathtaking view throughout the course, team tactics will not only focus on grabbing the victory, but also on winning the maximum points possible which is sure to make for a thrilling finish,” Sunderland said.
First held in 2015 and inspired by the success of the Geelong World Championships five years earlier, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race has established itself as a staple of the Australian Summer of Cycling.
The men’s race was elevated to WorldTour status in 2020, when Dries Devenyns claimed the spoils, while Marius Mayrhofer was the winner in 2023 when the event returned to the calendar after a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting and finishing in Geelong, the 2024 edition will be 176km in length.
The elite women’s race also obtained Women’s WorldTour status in 2020, when Liane Lippert took the win. Loes Adegeest is the defending champion. The women's race is 143km in length also starting and finishing in Geelong.
The slate of racing in Victoria is preceded by the start of the men’s and women’s WorldTours at the Tour Down Under earlier in the month. The women’s Tour Down Under will take place from January 12-14, with the men’s race running from January 16-21.
