World-class cycling has kicked off again in Geelong with the tenth Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race this week.
The five-day cycling festival began with the women’s Surf Coast Classic on Wednesday, won by New Zealand rising star Ally Wollaston (FDJ – Suez) and will culminate in the men’s Great Ocean Road Race on Sunday.
One of Geelong’s premier annual events and featuring the first UCI Men’s and Women’s WorldTour one-day races of the season, the event drew more than 140,000 people to the region last year.
Evans, Australia’s only winner of the Tour de France’s general classification, said the decade since his retirement and the inaugural Great Ocean Road Race in 2015 had passed quickly.
“It’s nice to have a 10 year anniversary of the race, but it’s a little bit scary that it’s been 10 years since I stopped racing,” he said.
“That time’s gone very fast, but in 10 years I feel the race has become really established, not only with the riders within the international season but with the residents of Geelong and the Surf Coast.
“I feel we’re a really strong part of the community in the region and the state.”
This year’s People’s Ride, which gives members of the public the chance to cycle with professional riders, has drawn record numbers of registrations.
Evans said the popularity of the People’s Ride lay in the sense of togetherness offered by the event.
“People love the big public rides; road cycling is something you normally do in a group, so doing it in a group of 3000 is pretty special,” he said.
