Has the Gold Coast Cycling Club found the perfect place to hold future national road race championships?

GOLD Coast Cycling Club president Dominique Verstreken says they have unearthed a course worthy of ripping the Australian Road Race Championships away from Victoria.

GOLD Coast Cycling Club president Dominique Verstreken says they have unearthed a course worthy of ripping the Australian Road Race Championships away from Victoria.

For the first time in the club’s history the annual Darren Smith Classic was held at Hinze Dam on Sunday in a landmark moment for the club.

The Australian National Road Race Championships have been held in Ballarat in Victoria for the past 12 years but Verstreken said a course he rated on par, if not better, than the 2018 Commonwealth Games road racecourse at Currumbin would be a worth host of the national event.

“It was a true bike race in the sense that it was hilly and tough,” Verstreken said.

COOPER WINS DARREN SMITH CLASSIC

“The strongest rider was found on the day. It’s potentially a course that we could use for a national platform for the national titles.

”Cycling Queensland has definitely picked it up and knows what we are doing.

“It’s hard to take those events away from Victoria as being there for quite some time.

“It’s early days. It’s what they call a hard mans course. It’s on par and possibly better than the Commonwealth Games road course that was set out through Currumbin.”

New Zealand-born Gold Coast resident Joe Cooper won the elite men’s division of Sunday’s event while Brisbane’s Jessica Pratt won the women’s A division.

Joe Cooper won the 2018 Darren Smith Classic. Picture credit: Adam Weathered.

The undulating Hinze Dam course featured a 12.2km loop with 202m of elevation, with the 800m climb up the dam wall the toughest section of road. The elite riders will need to complete the climb 10 times.

Verstreken said the club was eager to use the venue for next year’s Darren Smith Classic and declared work on securing the site would begin before the end of the year.

“We want to use it but it’s not locked in by any means,” Verstreken said.

“There are a lot of boxes you need to tick to have it locked in but planning will start in the next three to four months.”

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