After years of absence, Herald Sun Tour dates confirmed for February as UCI announces 2026 calendar

The men's and women's Herald Sun Tours will take place February 4-8 as the event returns to the calendar in 2026, the UCI confirmed on Tuesday morning.

Coming amidst a swathe of changes as the UCI released the full professional calendar for 2026, the news was confirmed that the five-stage races will take place concurrently at the start of February, running from Wednesday to Sunday.

The races, which will take place in and around Ballarat, Victoria, start a few days after the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (February 1) and will round out the Australian block of racing.

After several years of absence due to Covid-19 cancellations and then other struggles, including previous failed attempts to revive the race, organisers announced in April that the Herald Sun Tour was set to return in 2026.

They confirmed in the spring that both men's and women's races would be five stages long, with Olympic gold medallist cyclists Scott McGrory and Grace Brown as the respective race directors.

It was also confirmed that the races would offer minimum prize money, and that the men's race had already secured interest from a minimum of four WorldTour teams.

The April announcement said that more details would be revealed in "in coming weeks" but no more information has emerged since then.

At the time, it wasn't clear if the two races would run concurrently or successively, but the dates confirm that they will be run at the same time, with a men's and women's stage each day.

The men's race dates back to 1952, and has been won by the likes of Chris Froome and Jai Hindley, whilst the women's race was founded in 2018 and has only ever run as a two-stage race, so 2026 will mark a step up for the event.

Both races will be run as 2.1 events, and will complete the Australian block that starts with the Tour Down Under.

No more details of the Herald Sun Tour routes are currently available, but these will be expected to be revealed soon now that the dates are confirmed.

Other calendar changes

Among the dump of hundreds of race dates for 2026, there are a few other tweaks to be aware of.

Most of the WorldTour and Women's WorldTour changes were confirmed earlier in the year, but one important change is that the men's and women's Paris-Roubaix will now both be held on the same Sunday, rather than on separate days in April.

Owing to the Giro d'Italia Women moving to just after the men's race, there is also a shift for the men's and women's Tour of Britain, with the women's race moving to August 19-23 to create a three-week Tour of Britain block, with the men's race taking place September 2-6. The women's race also grows to five days.

Several new races have been added to the calendar, including the three-day Lyon-Torino stage race for men (2.1, July 1-3), a women's race in Germany called Women Cycling Day (June 21), and a handful of new Italian races.

In North America, the Maryland Cycling Classic will go from a one-day race to a three-day tour for both the men and the women (September 5-7), and the Philadelphia Cycling Classic is officially back on the calendar on August 30.

Other minor changes include Le Samyn des Dames taking place a day earlier, a change of dates for O Gran Camiño, and various races have been promoted up a category.