The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race has confirmed the creation of the Women's Surf Coast Classic race as a lead in to the Women's WorldTour event.
The Surf Coast Classic and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race are the final races in Australia's summer of cycling which opens up the international racing for a new season in early 2025.
The Australian riders also first get a hit out at the National Championships from January 8 to 12 before the Women's WorldTour and WorldTour opens up in South Australia from January 17 to 26. Teams then skip east for the racing in Victoria before leaving behind the heat of the Australian summer as they head to Europe.
The 1.1 ranked race was re-introduced for the men's elite field in 2024. There had been a UCI ranked event for both men and women before the COVID-19 hiatus in 2021 and 2022.
In 2024 as the men's field tackled the returned UCI-ranked point-to-point race from Lorne to Torquay the women raced a criterium in central Geelong. Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ) won the prize purse of €14,520, loaded thanks to the event’s long-standing practice of delivering equal prizes to the women's and men's field even if the race levels differ.
This year the race levels will be equal too, both taking on the 1.1 ranked road race as a precursor to the one-day Women's WorldTour and men's WorldTour events on the weekend of February 1 and 2.
The 118km women's Surf Coast Classic will take place on Wednesday January 29, while the 157km men's lead-in race will roll out on Thursday January 30.
“It’s fantastic for the region and for our elite riders,” race director Scott Sunderland said officially announcing the races, which were earlier listed in the UCI calendar.
“The Surf Coast Classic was well-received by the international Elite Men’s teams in 2024, and we’re delighted to now offer the same experience for the international Elite Women’s teams."
The course starts on the coast, heading straight into a 10km climb that takes it inland to Deans Marsh. Shortly after that the men's and women's course diverges with the men looping out further with a route that includes Barwon Downs and Forrest before once again re-joining the shared course that takes the race over the rolling hills of the Victorian countryside. After that the point to point race heads to the coast once again, with the final sprint unfolding along The Esplanade in Torquay.
The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race has been run since 2015, with 2025 the tenth edition.
When it returned to the calendar in 2023 the traditional course direction was reversed but it will be back running clockwise again – first heading along the coast, and the revered surfing hot spot of Bells Beach, before looping back inland to take on local circuits that include the race splintering climb of Challambra.
The men's race moved up to WorldTour level in 2017 and the women's race in 2020, both running on the same course but with variations in the number of times over the final loop.
In 2025 the men will take on the final loop – which now also takes in the Botanic Gardens – four times for a total distance of 184km with near 2,000m of elevation gain. The women will tackle it twice for a race over 142km with a little over 1,400m of elevation gain.
