The organisers of the Herald Sun Tour are planning to finally revive the Australian stage race in 2026 for the men's and women's pelotons, after years of cancellations and no race since 2020.
An announcement on Tuesday confirmed that the organisers are planning to run five-stage men's and women's events next summer, with Olympic gold medallists and former cyclists Scott McGrory and Grace Brown as the respective race directors.
Whilst the exact dates and stage details are yet to be confirmed, the Herald Sun newspaper and the city of Ballarat said the race will start "three days after the conclusion of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race" and it will take place in and around Ballarat in Victoria.
The event will have five stages for both men and women, though it's not yet clear if the race days will be run concurrently or successively.
First raced in 1952, the Herald Sun Tour has been won by the likes of Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins. It was last held in 2020 – won by Jai Hindley – but was then cancelled amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
The women's race has only enjoyed three editions, in 2018, 2019 and 2020, won once by Brodie Chapman and twice by Lucy Kennedy. All three editions featured two stages.
When it was previously run, the men's race was a 2.1 race, whilst the women's event was a 2.2, and it remains to be seen how the new race will be categorised.
The race announced its intentions to revive the race for 2023, the same year the Tour Down Under welcomed back an international peloton, and then 2024, but those plans fell through, so this is not the first attempt at bringing the race back.
Whilst attempts to finally revive the Herald Sun Tour have faltered in the past, this time has some more weight to it with the involvement of McGrory and Brown as race directors, and a two-year deal with the city of Ballarat.
Speaking to the Herald Sun newspaper, McGrory said the race was already attracting the interest of WorldTour teams, with the possibility of an extended Australian block – with the Tour Down Under, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and then the Herald Sun Tour – making it easier for European squads to make the trip.
"[We'll have] four [WorldTour teams] to start at a minimum," he said. "It’s what we’ve had previously and that’s what we’ll start with. I’ve had a couple of team managers reach out showing their interest. Now they know it’s back we’ll be starting to talk to them a lot more."
For Grace Brown, who has taken on the role of President of The Cyclists' Alliance and an SBS commentator since retiring last year, the promise of equality across the races is what attracted her to take up the role of women's race director.
"[It’s] one of the things that’s excited me about it," she said. "The fact that the race has equal prize money and equal stages is basically a first in Australia.“There is no other event that does exactly that. It’s something I’m really passionate about so I’m happy to put my name to it."
All the stages will take place in and around Ballarat, the first time one city has hosted the whole race, which previously toured around the Victoria region, and this deal with the city is initially for two years.
The Herald Sun says there will be stages for sprinters and climbers, with more details and the precise dates of the event to be announced "in coming weeks".
