In 2025 Australian cycling will have a new road racing league to replace the National Road Series, with the ProVelo Super League backed by Team Jayco-AlUla owner Gerry Ryan set to deliver a compact and extensively broadcast block of events that aims to rejuvenate the top level and build its value as a pathway for a new generation of riders from the nation.
The private equity-funded model, sanctioned by AusCycling and founded by Matt Wilson and Aaron Flanagan, is set to deliver an early season calendar of junior to elite men's and women's racing with five tours and two classic one-day races run over ten to twelve weeks early in the year. For up-and-coming domestic riders it should fill a gap between key January Australian targets and potential European ones.
"At its core, the ProVelo Super League is designed to be compact but impactful, with the aim of attracting new audiences and creating a more sustainable economic model, growing Australian cycling and creating pathways for young riders," said Wilson at the launch of the series on Wednesday.
"The league is going to have a strong focus on broadcasting, with every race in the season broadcast at least in part," added the one-time professional cyclist who now is extensively involved in the development of local talent, including running a Continental men's and women's team. "We aim to focus the broadcast not only on the racing but on the telling of the stories of the athletes and creating and building a narrative to attract and grow audiences."
The series – which will have equal coverage and prize pools for men and women – will include some of the races that already have a presence in the current National Road Series. They are the Tour of Tasmania and the long-running and long-distance one-day events of the Melbourne to Warrnambool and Grafton to Inverell.
"We will also be creating some new and exciting events coming to capital cities – bringing the racing back to the people," said Wilson.
The National Road Series has been running for more than three decades and while it has provided a pathway to the top level for many riders and had periods of relative strength, there has been a clear consensus in recent periods that an overhaul was required for the benefit of all the parties involved.
In 2023 AusCycling undertook a review of its events, with CEO Marne Fechner pointing to two key areas that were considered as part of that – how to build an events portfolio that increased the number of fans connected to the sport in Australia and helped it grow commercially, plus how to deliver one that best supported the development of athletes coming through.
"It is the next evolution of the National Road Series," said Fechner of the ProVelo Super League at the launch in the beachside suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne. "And AusCycling is really excited and looking forward to working in partnership with the League ... to make sure that this is a huge success, not only for the teams, the athletes but also the events that are part of the ProVelo Super League and also the fans.
"I think that is really important and something that underpins everything that they have been trying to do because without them and the eyeballs that they drive, we won't exist."
