A final Australian summer sortie at the men's Cadel Evans Road Race - Preview

In 2023 the men’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race will provide the final battle in the Australian summer of racing, with the one-day WorldTour race rolling through the hills and along the coast. It is a last chance for teams to head into the season with the confidence, and points, boost of an early win. It is especially a target for sweeping up that final Australian victory for the nation’s only WorldTour team, Jayco AlUla. 

So often by the time the home squad has hit the start line in Geelong, it’s already made the most of its home ground advantage, sweeping up perhaps the road title at the Australian National Championships, the time trial stripes or often the overall winner of the Tour Down Under and even sometimes all three. 

This year, Jayco AlUla came blazing into the Australian racing with one of its most powerful teams, making the most of the opportunity after two years of cancellations. They have put in strong performances through the racing but the big wins have just eluded them – with Luke Durbridge taking second in the time trial at the national championships, Michael Matthews third in the road race and Simon Yates second overall at the Tour Down Under, but he did clock up the team’s first victory of the year by winning on stage 5. 

That may have been some consolation, though the team made it clear they were looking for more from the Australian summer, and the end is now nigh so if they want to find more it will have to be at the 176km road race in Geelong, a race the men's squad of the Australian WorldTour team has never before won.

The field may not be as deep as in South Australia, with teams such as Jumbo-Visma, Astana Qazaqstan, Bahrain Victorious, Movistar, Groupama FDJ, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Cofidis all giving the Victorian race a miss, while recently-developed New Zealand-based ProTeam Bolton Equities–Black Spoke will join the fray. Nevertheless, the competition will remain high with the teams with strong key contenders largely opting to stay put.

Cyclingnews will be in Geelong to cover the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, gathering all the important news and rider reaction.

The route

Image 1 of 2

The 176-kilometre course again contains all the essential ingredients that have become a staple of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, from the ascents on the finishing look of Challambra Crescent, the cavalcade along the coast and the rolling farmland hills, it’s just that they have been mixed a little differently this year. Instead of heading off from the start line adjacent to Steampacket Gardens and then straight toward Barwon Heads, Torquay and the revered surf location of Bells Beach the riders will instead head inland, sweeping toward the rolling hills plus the first KOM at just under 9km into the race which could provide a handy launching point for those early breaks. 

This year, by the time the peloton comes back to the coastline making a turn at Bells Beach to head back toward Geelong, they’ll be around 50km into the racing. First it will be past Winki Pop, before veering inland of Jan Juc and onto Torquay, where the undulations of the course give way for a while and first intermediate sprint takes place on the Esplanade. Then it onto Thirteenth Beach, another intermediate sprint in Barwon Heads before tracking across the Bellarine Peninsula and toward Geelong and into the final four finishing circuits, each just under 17km long. 

The central feature of those circuits is the climb of Challambra Crescent, which was the key animating factor of the 2010 Geelong World Championships course. It comes a little short of the halfway point of the circuit, delivering a one kilometre kick averaging 10% but with a maximum gradient of 22%. Cresting with around nine kilometres to the finish line there is room for those who keep the gaps in check to chase back on, but there is still another challenge along the way to interrupt the momentum of the chase, with the short but sharp Melville ascent at around 6km from the line. 

At 4km to go the race turns right onto Church St for a mostly downward sloping final run to the line, but there is still one more corner to tackle with the race turning right and onto the waterfront as just under 2km to go before following the soft bend of the coastline as the pace ramps up toward the finish line. 

The riders

Jay Vine may have been the unquestionable star of the show for UAE Team Emirates at the Tour Down Under with his ochre debut, but just as his teammates turned their considerable strength to supporting Vine in South Australia the Tour Down Under winner has made clear he will be returning the favour this Sunday. Watch out for teammates like Marc Hirschi – although really just about any of the riders on their roster could be a threat – as the race charges toward the Geelong waterfront for the final lap.

Then there are those such as Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) who favour the punchy one-day race and showed he has come into the Aussie summer with superb form, coming second in the Australian National Championships road race behind Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers), who delivered a scorching solo victory for a second year running. 

And while we are on the subject of Plapp, watch for the green-and-gold striped jersey of the national champion to charge out the front on the Challambra climbs, while teammate Magnus Sheffield will also be a rider to fly under the radar after his strong performance at the Santos Tour Down Under, which left him with the white jersey of the best young rider and fourth overall. 

Then, of course, there is AG2R Citroën's Ben O'Connor, who may have been a little disappointed after stage 5 of the Tour Down Under to have walked away with third, but it was still a strong performance at the race so maybe if it is one of those years at the race which isn’t decided in a selective sprint the Geelong finish could see him returning to Europe on a high. 

If it does come down to a small bunch sprint and Caleb Ewan is still there, the rider who is racing for the national team made clear at the pre-race criterium that he has come into the year with his ever present speed well in tact. Also during the Australian Road National Championships and the racing in South Australia he was impressive on the climbs, so the chances of him being there to chase victory at the end are looking good.

Ewan, of course will be one of the riders Jayco-AlUla will try to shake before the end as they’ve got the climbing strength to make those Challambra Crescent ascents tough, with Lucas Hamilton and Simon Yates, plus Matthews of course has the double danger of climbing staying power and a fast finish plus likely the burning desire to eradicate that bitter taste in the mouth left by the touch of wheels and chain drop that took him out of GC contention at the Tour Down Under right when he looked perfectly placed to carry the team through to that sought after race victory.