The Melbourne to Ballarat cycling classic has been abandoned for this year.
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Cycling Victoria, announced on Thursday that it had been determined in talks with Victoria Police and the City of Ballarat it was not safe to race up the Western Freeway.
Confirmation that the 90km race had been called off came a day after Cycling Victoria had informed The Courier the future of what would have been the 108th edition of the event was still under discussion, with immediate future of the event largely in the hands of the Victoria Police.
Cycling Victoria chief executive officer Paul Jane said the sport was under significant pressure as costs to deliver events escalates and community expectations around access to uninhibited road infrastructure increased.
“Cycling like no other sport has been reliant on the goodwill of the community to run its events on open roads and support from authorities to achieve this safely.
He said the Melbourne to Ballarat, which started at Rockbank, needed significant resources to manage safely and a commitment from authorities to allow it to occur.
City of Ballarat mayor Samantha McIntosh also expressed disappointment.
She said council would work with Cycling Victoria to get the historic race back on the road.
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club road racing coordinator Tim Canny said it was disappointing for the cycling community, but the club understood the reasoning behind the call.
“It’s sad to break with tradition.”
Canny said the club appreciated the challenge of running a point-to-point event on a highway.
He said the difficulties of coordinating a race of this type was behind the club’s call several years ago to hand the management of the event to Cycling Victoria.
Canny said these types of races were a dying a breed based on logistics such as traffic management and associated costs.
He said the financial barriers were substantial.
Canny also pointed to a drop of in numbers in handicap races such as the Melbourne to Ballarat, especially with many more options now available to cyclists.
He said hopefully such an historic event could be resurrected, perhaps with an alternative route.