The COVID-19 race cancellations of 2021 and 2022 put a serious dent in the evolution and growth of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race but 2025 sees the addition of the mid-week Surf Coast Classic races for men and women before the WorldTour races at the weekend.
“But we’re here today. In 2025 we have a Women’s one day Surf Coast Classic and the men’s so we’re really, really happy.” Race director Scott Sunderland said with pride after working to develop the races after the pandemic.
So too were the riders on the podium of Wednesday’s women’s race, who took advantage of another opportunity in this Australian block of racing to hone their race legs, scoop up more points and more results during the Australian summer.
Ally Wollaston gave her new FDJ-Suez team their first victory of the year after a hard-fought battle.
“They were really racing hard, very fast, the crosswinds were making it nervous for all the riders,” Sunderland told Cyclingnews in Torquay.
“The riders are saying to me, ‘that was tough but we could still race’, and that’s what we want. We want the riders to enjoy it. We want the riders to want to feel like they can attack it.”
The 118km event for the women and 157km for the men, which will unfold on Thursday, is a far cry from the former mid-week events like the Albert Park kermesse or Race Torquay which played out on a circuit. They provide a far more fitting run toward the Classics, which many of the riders in Australia are working towards.
“There’s not many Classics you ride that aren’t tough but for the ladies who are in front they were racing hard. They wanted this. They need this. It’s 120 kilometres. It’s not towards the 160 maximum, but it’s a very good distance for everybody to be able to race,” said Sunderland.
There were a few riders who didn’t make it to the end, with the ten kilometre climb at the start putting them on the back foot from the get go. It was clear what a charged battle was unfolding in the un-televised race, from the chatter over race radio and after the finish.
There was a lengthy list of splits, attacks and dropped riders but also some Herculean efforts to pull it all back together.
“For 85% of the riders, it was a good day out,” said Sunderland who is also a race director for Flanders Classics in Belgium.
“A – they were able to race a great race. B – this is also going to set them up for the rest of the year as they move towards the next Classics.
“It’s very important that we’re ticking boxes for everybody concerned, and we’re raising the bar because, you know, we’re WorldTour level here [at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Races] and the same teams are competing here at the 1.1 as they are on Saturday at the WorldTour so we want to deliver a high quality event.”
Part of raising the bar, is also a target for 2026 that will put more prestige and points on offer.
“Our goal is to be at UCI ProSeries level in 2026 with both the women’s and the men’s race,” said Sunderland.
“Not only does it take us up in another higher level in sanctioning from the UCI but also, it shows that we mean business in delivering the best quality for the riders and giving them the best opportunities.”
The Australian racing racing continues with the men’s Surf Coast Classic on Thursday and then on the weekend it is the televised WorldTour level Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. The women’s race is on Saturday and on Sunday the men’s unfolds.
Cyclingnews will have full coverage of both races, with two journalists at the races, helping to produce full race reports, photo galleries, news and interviews.
