PART of what makes earning the green-and-gold jersey so special in Buninyong is us.
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Really, what we put into the championships is a big part of what the champs get out of it.
Cycling Australia Road National Championships could be held in a number of top cycling locations across Australia – some argue it should – but we have helped cement the City of Ballarat as the home of Australia cycling.
This does not mean we can take the bold billing for granted, especially with the future location of the event still under negotiation.
When the championships are in town, this is about more than cycling. This is a festival. We need to really get behind all that is on offer.
This is the 14th time in 16 years, and 11th consecutive year the championships have been in town. Each year gets bigger, attracts more crowds, television broadcast showcasing our city streets.
It is in the past couple of summers alone, the change in atmosphere has been remarkable. Buninyong cafes and shops taking their business into the streetscape. Cycling tourism, and cycling-friendly hotels, is a big element now.
Plus there is the booming Do-It-Yourself phenomenon – getting out there on closed Buninyong roads and having a crack at the notorious Buninyong course in the second annual Gran Fondo before the men’s under-23 road race on Saturday. There was also the newly added, more casual, SheRides event to encourage women to get on a bike for fitness and social exercise on Friday morning.
Only thing is, increasing popularity in the sport means other more commercial Australian events are starting to catch on.
Tour Down Under in South Australia is the next major road race blockbuster, starting next weekend.
Perhaps more notably, is the third annual Cadel Evans’ Great Ocean Road Race about Geelong and the Surf Coast at the month’s end. This year, the Cadel carnival will introduce the People’s Race on the same roads as the elite will ride a day later.
We are well-positioned in Ballarat to work in with these event, plus the Bay Cycle Classic criterium series leading into nationals.
But as the spotlight on cycling brightens, we need to remind people why Ballarat matters so much. We need to give riders more than just the green-and-gold.
We need to fuel their hunger and put on a good show for them, so they have the added bite in their ride to do the same for us.
Defending women’s elite road champion Amanda Spratt told media in the championship launch last month that to win a national jersey was something every cyclist, of every nation, surely dreamed of achieving at least once in their career.
“It’s a huge honour and your feel really proud every time you get to wear it out training, out racing, every time you step on the bike,” Spratt said. “You get a lot of respect from the peloton in Australia and overseas.”
Spratt is well-versed in how to earn the title on the gruelling mountain repeats and sharp downhill corners. She has won twice in Buninyong (2012, 2014).
But a key part, spurring her on, has been how the Ballarat community really gets out in festival-like support.