Chris Froome to race Melbourne to Warrnambool

CAMPBELLTOWN, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 20: Chris Froome of The United Kingdom and Team Israel Premier Tech competes during the 23rd Santos Tour Down Under 2023 - Stage 3 a 116,8km stage from Norwood to Campbelltown / #TourDownUnder / #WorldTour / on January 20, 2023 in Campbelltown, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) racing at the Santos Tour Down Under in Australia in January 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Chris Froome has announced he is going to line up at Saturday’s Melbourne to Warrnambool, with the Israel-Premier Tech embracing an opportunity to fit in more racing while in Australia with a last minute entry to the long-running 267 kilometre event.

The gruelling race, which started in 1895, kicks off the season for Australia’s National Road Series and while it may not be on the UCI calendar it has such deep roots in the nation’s cycling history that it carries a weight in the prestige stakes that transcends its ranking. The 11th hour addition of the four-time Tour de France winner to the start list of the race, affectionately known as the Warrny, will now amplify that even further.

Simone Giuliani
Australia Editor

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.