The format of the Australian international racing season has faced challenges in recent seasons, the biggest of course being the COVID-19 cancellations, but now with the early-season racing block back for a second year. the evolution and improvement continues.
The Australian Road National Championships, the Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race remain but there has been a shuffling of the deck when it comes to the themes, other events and timings. We can expect a fascinating few weeks of racing.
Sadly the Bay Crits, which began in 1989, have disappeared from the calendar and the Jayco Herald Sun Tour also is yet to make its return from the COVID-19 cancellations that started in 2021. However, there are some additions, with gravel on the agenda around the Tour Down Under and in February, while the mid-week racing is also back in the days before the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
There is also some new track racing, with Adelaide hosting the opening round of the UCI Track Nations Cup just five months before the Paris Olympics. Expect Filippo Ganna and others to stay on in Australia for February 2-4 track racing.
Cyclingnews will be on the ground to cover the Australian racing, from Ballarat to Adelaide and onto Geelong in the heat of the southern hemisphere summer.
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Last dance in Ballarat, for now
Australian Road National Championships, Ballarat
- Time trials from January 3 to 4
- Criteriums on January 5
- Road Races from January 6 to 7
The Australian Road National Championships have been held in Ballarat since 2002, with the climb of Mount Buninyong drawing an ever-growing crowd and establishing its place as a crucial component of the race that decides who will wear the green and gold striped jersey of the Australian road champion for the year.
“The enduring commitment from Ballarat and the challenging Buninyong course have ensured the event has global recognition, giving all our national champions instant credibility throughout the cycling community," said race director Scott McGrory.
“It’s a privilege to have been the race director for so many years in Ballarat, and I’m confident 2024 will give us another fantastic edition – one not to be missed.”
This year, however, will be Ballarat's last – for a while at least – giving the riders who have enjoyed the parcours extra incentive to make the most of this last dance. The riders who don't like Mount Buninyong will have the relief of knowing they'll only have to grit their teeth on that repeated ascent for one last year.
The time trials begin the proceedings, with Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) the hot favourite to take out the women's elite title again but she won't be without challengers, perhaps that could be 2020 and 2021 title holder Sarah Gigante.
In the men's elite time trial, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) will not defend his title but Luke Plapp will be there, with the 2021 title holder determined to bring a touch of green and gold to his new team kit of Jayco-AlUla.
Then there will be the criterium on Friday afternoon through to the evening, with the riders battling on the central Ballarat hot dog circuit to take the jersey that Amber Pate and Kelland O'Brien of Jayco-AlUla claimed in 2023.
In the road race, Plapp has held the green and gold jersey for two years, taking it despite being the lone representative of his team.
That will all change with his shift to Jayco-AlUla, which could be a double-edged sword as while he will have teammates to help this time, he'll also have teammates he may need to sacrifice his chances for.
Brodie Chapman (Lidl-Trek) broke away to take the women's elite victory in 2023, but with three-time winner Amanda Spratt on the team, they'll be able to split the gaze of their rivals. Brown, however, is a podium regular and will be searching for that top step while the Australian Jayco-AlUla squad will be pushing to recapture the title, with Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Alex Manly both serious contenders.
The Tour Down Under: a return of Willunga and a gravel twist
Santos Tour Down Under, South Australia
- Women's Tour Down Under, January 12-14
- Men's Down Under Classic (criterium), January 13
- Men's Tour Down Under, January 16-21
- Women's Down Under Criterium, January 18
- RADL GRVL, January 19
- Willunga Hill Time Trial, January 20
WorldTour riders from Europe and around the globe will once again escape the winter weather and head to sunny Australia, where the only ice in the ice-stuffed stockings the riders put down the necks of their jerseys to try and find some relief from the Australian summer heat.
In the second edition of the Tour Down Under racing after the COVID-19 cancellations, things are back to normal.
Willunga Hill is back in the men's race and even a retired Richie Porte will be charging up the ascent where he reigned for so many editions of the race, in a fun time trial style event where he will be trying to catch members of the public who have signed up for the challenge.
The Women's Tour Down Under will see an impressive trio of former winners in action, with 2023 victor Grace Brown lining up, as well as Ruth Edwards (née Winder) who claimed the ochre leader's jersey in 2020 and Amanda Spratt, who won the previous three editions.
In the Men's Tour Down Under, 2023 winner Jay Vine will be missing but it looks like the Australian based WorldTour team Jayco-AlUla will be going all out to reassert their dominance at the home race, with a line up that includes Caleb Ewan, 2023 runner up Simon Yates and Luke Plapp.
There are also some distinct new twists within the event.
For a start Willunga will for the very first time be incorporated into the Women's WorldTour race, providing what is bound to be an exciting crowd-lined finale for the three stage race.
There has also been a change in the flow of events, with the crossover between the men's and women's WorldTour event eliminated and as a result of the timing shift the women also get a weekend finish, so the crowds are likely to be out in force to witness the crowning of the new queen of Willunga Hill, and the men's and women's criteriums have been put on separate days.
On top of that, the event is also throwing in some unpaved action, with the already sold out RADL GRVL delivering a 108km race through McLaren Vale on Friday January 19.
One-day WorldTour racing with a mid-week bonus
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Geelong
- Geelong Classic, women's Pro Criterium, January 24
- Surf Coast Classic, men's 1.1 race, January 25
- Women's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, January 27
- Men's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, January 28
The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race added a strong, and ever unpredictable, one day event to the Australian January race calendar in 2015.
Since then it has stepped up to WorldTour and Women's WorldTour level and also experimented with a number of different formats of shorter hit out races during the run up. These were absent from the line up in 2023, but in 2024 they will be back.
That means after the riders travel from South Australia to Victoria the women will also have a chance to line up at the Geelong Classic Pro Criterium on Wednesday January 24. The men can then take on the 1.1 ranked 158.6km Surf Coast Classic on Thursday January 25, with a course that starts in Lorne before sweeping inland to the Otways and back toward the coast for a Torquay finish.
The top tier action then begins on Saturday with the 143km Women's WorldTour event, which – like the next days men's race – heads out from Geelong toward Bells Beach before heading into a loop around Geelong that includes the short but steep Challambra climb.
It is a course that can be hit by cross winds, searing heat or driving rain, and just as the conditions can be unpredictable, so can the winner. This event has a habit of throwing up new and unexpected names, with the women's race in particular often rewarding those riders willing to take a chance by jumping off the front in a small group, with Loes Adegeest (FDJ-Suez) in 2023 outsprinting Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek) after the duo hit the front together after the Challambra climb.
It was, however a reduced peloton that headed to the line in the 176km men's race as the attackers failed to gain a sufficient gap, and Marius Mayrhofer (Team DSM) launched to claim victory.
Given the mix of riders that have taken victory at the race, it is a tough call to narrow down the favourites. That means many riders will justifiably think they will be in with a chance, so the easy bit to predict is that with plenty willing to chance their hand it will be aggressive racing right to the line.
