Cadel Evans dreams of Great Ocean Road Road race bearing his name competing with European classics

CADEL Evans on Thursday dared to dream that a Victorian race carrying his name could one day rival the great European classics.

18/1/14 - Tour Down Under official press conference at The Hilton - rider Cadel Evans. Pic Naomi Jellicoe

CADEL Evans on Thursday dared to dream that a Victorian race carrying his name could one day rival the great European classics.

The 2011 Tour de France champ confirmed he would ride in a race around the Geelong region that will put Victoria firmly and permanently on the international road cycling calendar.

There will be an elite women’s race and a participation ride on January 31, but the February 1 men’s race is already being billed as Australia’s answer to Europe’s Spring Classics, so revered in cycling.

The exact course is yet to be finalised, but the race will start in Geelong and take in Evans’ home town of Barwon Heads before heading through Torquay to Bells Beach.

From there, the course goes inland through the Barrabool Hills and will finish as the 2010 road world championships did with a series of laps around Geelong, featuring climbs up the torturous Challambra Crescent climb in Highton before a finale near the Corio Bay waterfront.

Cadel Evans and Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons at the launch.

UCI vice-president and long-time Geelong resident Tracey Gaudry said the race still needed to be ticked off by world cycling’s governing body.

But she said once that was rubberstamped in September, the race would have the UCI’s highest possible ranking for a new event.

To be considered among the great one-day classics, the race will likely be between 250-300km.

And capping the great news for Aussie cycling fans is that the race, backed by the Victorian Government, will sit between the Tour Down Under in Adelaide and the time-honoured Herald Sun Tour.

The schedule makes a compelling case for the world’s best teams to compete in Australia late in the European winter with all three races carrying UCI status.

Australia’s Orica GreenEDGE and Evans’ BMC team have already committed to the new race, with most of the World Tour peloton expected to follow suit with Geelong’s status as successful host of the 2010 worlds a key factor.

Cadel Evans’ Great Ocean Road Race promo

Evans, who trained on these very roads before his 2009 road world title victory, said it was hard to believe his name could be honoured on a global scale.

“It’s very humbling,” he said.

“I went into cycling with big ambitions and big dreams and I have to say I’ve realised nearly all of them.

“It’s brought a lot more to my life than what I expected, but I worked really hard at my dream and there’s still a lot more challenges left on the bike as a competitor, but also … outside of racing.

“I think this event will be the biggest part and certainly the longest lasting part of that.

“One of the things is this event might go on for 10, 20 or 100 years … but it’s definitely something that has the potential to do that and for me to give back to the sport and to appeal to people at a participation level … is very important to me.”

Evans said he has — and will again — canvas the world’s top teams and riders about the event when he returns to Europe for the Vuelta Espana and other late-season races.

Originally published as Cadel Evans dreams of Great Ocean Road Road race bearing his name competing with European classics