Herald Sun Tour pulls off another successful race in 60-year history

CYCLING'S Jayco Herald Sun Tour threw itself a 60th birthday party with thousands of guests last night - and is looking forward to more of the same.

Herald Sun Tour

CYCLING'S Jayco Herald Sun Tour threw itself a 60th birthday party with thousands of guests last night - and is looking forward to more of the same.

Sports fans flocked to the majestic Arthurs Seat lookout on the Mornington Peninsula to watch nearly 100 riders complete the four-day race, which was held in January for the first time.   

Australia's oldest stage race had spent the previous 59 years in October, but the new timeslot is here to stay, according to race director John Trevorrow.   

"The consensus from the teams and everyone else involved is that it has been a wonderful event," said Trevorrow, who won the race three times back in the 1970s.   

"The racing has been brilliant."   

That was despite the riders suffering through a heatwave that saw their bike computers register 45C out on the road from Sunbury to Bendigo on Friday.   

But some of Australia's best international professionals - Simon Gerrans, Stuart O'Grady, Matt Goss, Simon Clarke and Nathan Haas, all riding together under the national team banner - plus an influx of overseas riders and the cream of this country's emerging talent, demonstrated why road cycling is so popular depite its well-documented problems.   

The winners of the prologue and the first two stages - Jordan Kerby, 20, Aaron Donnelly, 21, and Luke Davison, 21 - are all new faces on the way up, as was last year's winner, Haas.   

"People said these guys wouldn't be able to race at this standard. Wow, they've set the standard," Trevorrow said.   

"It is one of the beauties of this event. Not only do we get the internationals, but it's a wonderful platform for youngsters to take the next step and be noticed.   

"The Herald Sun Tour still has that great reputation."   

Trevorrow admitted the four days - a result of four major cycling events all running in prime holiday time - was too short to be ideal, but said he was confident it would be one or two days longer next year.   

"We are talking to the people who need to make that happen and no one is negative about it," he said.