Bay Crits preparation underway in Geelong as Cadel Evans opens his doors

On his way to becoming one of our best ever cyclists, a young Cadel Evans had good judges in awe in Geelong.

Cadel Evans was a mountain bike star back in the mid-90s.

One of Australia’s finest ever on two wheels, Cadel Evans’ long connection to Geelong’s Citroen Bay Crits will see him literally open the doors to the next generation in the new year.

The Australian cycling champion has done it all in the sport, but cycling purists have fond memories of Evans competing in the 1995 Bay Crits.

“There was a breakaway that got clear, Robbie McEwen was in it … group of four or five elite (riders) and they ended up lapping the field,” race director John Trevorrow said.

Cadel Evans will open the doors to some Bay Crits riders. Picture: Brad Fleet

“I saw this young kid chasing them on his own and he ended up lapping the field on his own, I had no idea who it was and I said ‘Who’s that kid?’

“(I was told) ‘That’s a mountain biker, Cadel Evans’. I said, ‘He’s a bit more than a mountain biker’, as he’s proven to be.”

Evans said he’ll have some Bay Crits competitors staying with him during the event, which runs from January 1-3.

“The Bay Crits was always good early season training for us,” he said.

“I’ve actually got a couple of riders coming and staying in Barwon Heads with me who will be riding it and getting ready for the season, the … Tour Down Under and of course our race (Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race).”

Brenton Jones with young competitors Zac Robinson, Luc Lancaster and Billie Russell ahead of next month’s Bay Crits. Picture: Alan Barber

Evans can distinctly remember his first sighting of Barwon Heads, the coastal town catching his attention straight away.

“We were doing training around the races and one year there was a race in Barwon Heads … the Starfish Bakery had just opened, I stopped there and did my normal coffee and a muffin an hour before the race,” he said.

“I was sitting there looking at the town thinking, ‘I reckon I could live in this town’.

“Then funnily enough a couple of years later I had an opportunity to buy a nice place there and 20 years later I’m still there and loving it, my kids are going to school there.”

Originally published as Bay Crits preparation underway in Geelong as Cadel Evans opens his doors