'We'll be back': AusCycling 'roots' firmly in Ballarat and Buninyong

This latest edition of RoadNats was the 18^th consecutive year in Ballarat - and the 21^st edition in the past 23 years but AusCycling has long made clear this would be the last - for now.

Cycling's governing body is yet to name the host city for the 2025 championships.

AusCycling sport executive general manager Kipp Kaufmann said there was still a passion to keep and promote Ballarat as the home of Australian road cycling. The plan was to rotate out for at least three years and hope to return bigger for a multi-year stint.

City of Ballarat mayor Des Hudson has also confirmed there he had reassurance from AusCycling of a RoadNats return in the not-too distant future.

"With change there's always a risk and hopefully we can continue to make the championships bigger and bigger," Mr Kaufmann said.

"We know our roots are here in Ballarat and you never leave family."

Mr Kaufmann pointed to the fast and efficient and well-versed partners in the City of Ballarat who worked to clear up extensive storm damage in Mount Helen ahead of the day one time trials based at the Federation University campus.

By 7am when AusCycling officials drove the course, Mr Kaufmann said you could barely tell there had been a storm.

Former City of Ballarat councillor Peter Innes, who played a key role in securing the championships for the city, said early days were trickier in quickly learning the finer details of staging a major cycling event.

Ballarat first hosted the championships in 2002 for three years before the event moved to Adelaide in what was supposed to be a three-year term. RoadNats was back after two years at riders' demands.

Mr Innes, who was proudly Buninyong based, said there had been a few niggles from locals but most had embraced the bigger picture.

"When we initially set out, we wanted to make cycling for Buninyong what car racing was to Bathurst and I certainly think we've achieved that," Mr Innes said.

"Around the world the best of the best recognise this is a challenging course.

"...We've got to live with it and get on with it, but I'm sure the championships will be come back because you'll never find a course that parallels this."

Throughout the championship riders have made clear the Buninyong road race course is designed to not be for pure climbers, nor pure sprinters, and demands a high degree of technical riding.

Since arriving in Ballarat, the championships have evolved from nine events - criterium, time trials and road races for elite men, under-23 men and combined under-23 and elite women - often in a three-day program, sometime with a rest day.

RoadNats now includes five days' packed racing with club rides, para-cycling, titles for international riders with intellectual disabilities, and under-19 juniors.The Saturday program also features a Gran Fondo.

Mr Kaufmann said these changes bring in five times more people to events, especially with increased live activations. Elite road races are also broadcast nationally and internationally while this year's elite criteriums were live streamed via SBS OnDemand.

"People now know Buninyong for cycling," Mr Kaufmann said. "The eyes of the world are on Buninyong and this is noticed in international races. And we have some of the best riders in the world from Australia."

Mr Kaufmann said riders such as Ruby Roseman-Gannon, who won the elite women's criterium and road race double, have been recognised by taxi drivers in Spain who had watched live coverage from Buninyong.

"Every time we come here, people have great memories of Ballarat and want to come back," Mr Kaufmann said.

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City of Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said he had been reflecting on the RoadNats with fondness in the final staging of this 18-year stretch.

Cr Hudson said it had been incredible how much the event had grown from the city's original vision, especially with the likes of beloved Tour de France commentator Phil Liggett on the microphone and beaming Ballarat and Buninyong to an international audience.

He loved how many people continued to stake their claim on course, whether it be for the road race through Buninyong, along Sturt Street for the criterium, or atop Mount Buninyong for the King of the Mountain.

Cr Hudson said there was a great legacy for the sport in Ballarat and this included our own mark in the sport.

"Everyone has things they've loved about RoadNats and one of the things I have loved is listening to Pat Shaw commentate and explain the racing," Cr Hudson said. "I remember Pat as a junior soccer player with Sebastopol Vikings and seeing him make the move from soccer into cycling.

"When he commentates, it makes so much sense the tactics out there. I see him as another great legacy from RoadNats and have watched him grow with pride."

Shaw, now retired from professional cycling, has also moved into work as a team director and in 2022 turned to crowdfunding to create a women's domestic team in partnership with Team BridgeLane, which completed its second RoadNats.

"The RoadNats are about the peak event in cycling, but there are so many other elements and ripple effects for this city, even a rise in weekend social riders," Cr Hudson said. "Cycling has really become one of the things people enjoy here, whether that's with Club MUD and mountain biking or BMX, too."