Australian Cycling Road Nationals to rotate out of Victoria

A week after losing the Commonwealth Games, a regional Victorian city discovered it will no longer be the permanent home of a major sporting event despite hosting it for two decades.

Regional Victoria has been dealt another major sporting blow on the back of the Commonwealth Games being scrapped with a long-term cycling event to potentially move interstate in 2025.

AusCycling and the City of Ballarat have announced the Road Nationals will remain in the city next year, the 18th straight time it will be hosted in Ballarat, and the 21st iteration overall.

However, the event in 2025 will have a new home - likely an interstate one - and will return to Ballarat only on a rotational basis while it travels across the country from then onwards.

The news comes about a week out from the cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, supposed to be held across regional Victoria.

According to the council, the Road Nationals contributed about $4 million a year to the local economy “consistently yielded considerable brand exposure of Ballarat to a national and international audience”.

The City of Ballarat contract for the 2024 event is worth $660,000.

The state government spends less money on the event than the council, but would not reveal the exact figure.

Announcing next year’s occasion on Thursday, the state government made no mention of the event's future departure from Victoria; nor did AusCycling in any explicit way.

It was Ballarat mayor Des Hudson who appeared to first raise the matter in his official statement.

AusCycling executive general manager Kipp Kaufmann said the move did not have to do with money offered by public sponsors.

He said there had been a lot of interest from other state governments about the championships, and that making the event itinerant would attract more fans.

Mr Kaufmann said he still considered Ballarat “the home of the Road Nationals” and the event would probably “go and come back” several times.

“Ballarat is amazing, it (has been) great for the event,” he said.

“We’ve been looking at how we can grow and grow the event and even make a bigger impact in Ballarat.

“We’ve genuinely been talking to them about coming back, but it is about growth and how we can bring the whole country to be excited about it and follow it around the country.”

It is expected new hosts will sign on for multiple years before organisers turn back to Ballarat.

Victorian Luke Plapp won the elite road race national title in Buninyong earlier this year. Photo by Con Chronis/AusCycling.

Sebastopol Cycling Club president and Sovereign Hill Motel owner Tim Canny said accommodation operators would be “disappointed” by the loss of the Road Nationals.

“Ballarat traditionally hasn’t been a big January city,” he said.

“It’s been quieter in January, so it’s been great to have the Nationals there to fill a bit of a gap.

“We certainly do pretty well out of the cyclists; they are great for our business and I’m sure they are great for all accommodation in Ballarat.

“If we lose the cycling it will have a big effect in our city for our January figures.”

Mr Canny said it was imperative the council and the state government seek other events to fill the void.

“Ballarat has been investing huge money into this event year after year,” he said.

“It’s important that once we do lose the event, the same money goes to other events and this

event gets replaced by either one big event gain or other multiple events that can be beneficial to the economy.

“Yes, we are left with a good brand and good reputation and we’ve proven we can hold big

events, but there is nothing left infrastructure-wise.”

Cr Hudson said he hoped the event returned “in the not-too-distant future”.

“Being able to host the event for almost two decades has shown that we are more than capable of hosting large-scale and complex events on the national stage.”

“We value our collaborative relationship with AusCycling and acknowledge the positive impact the event has had on our city.”

Wendouree MP Juliana Addison said Ballarat had embraced the event for some 20 years and that she looked forward to its return after 2024, but did not express disappointment.

“We’ve got behind this event, and we’ve actually elevated this event in terms of status and that’s something Ballarat can be really proud of - whether it’s the criterion in Sturt st or whether it’s the race around Buninyong.

“What I really hope is that, whether it be AFL Western Bulldogs games or Spilt Milk, that Ballarat continues to diversify in offering events that support the local economy and bring more tourists to our city.”

AusCycling hopes for a decision on the event’s next location by the end of the year.

The 2024 Road Nationals will take place in Ballarat from January 4 to 7.