The rise and rise of the national championships

Over the past decade, the Australian national road championships have gone from strength to strength.

Just a few short years ago the event was little more than a curiosity that allowed foreign riders to take part in a bid to bolster weaker fields.

There was limited media coverage and local interest was restricted to hard core bike fans or friends and family of those participating.

In short, the nationals barely registered a blip on our nation’s sporting radar.

Today, however, it is a must see event featuring an exclusively Australian start list, the quality of which is equal to that of any country in the world.

It is elite racing at its best and with the announcement earlier this week that 2011 Tour de France champion Cadel Evans has registered for the road race, the event is set to receive another boost.

It is a timely announcement for Cycling Australia who must have been wondering how they could top last year’s championships, which were without doubt the most successful yet.

25,000 people lined the roads in 2013 as Luke Durbridge flexed his quads to claim a memorable ‘double’ victory, taking the time trial and road race titles, while Cameron Meyer stole the march on some of the strongest domestic teams on the circuit with a successful solo breakaway in the criterium.

Add to that impressive performances by Shara Gillow, Kimberley Wells and Gracie Elvin who shared the spoils between them in the women’s events and the crowd well and truly had something to cheer about.

But these days, success or otherwise of cycling events can be measured in other ways. While nothing satisfies race organisers more than having people lining the route of their event, they also have one eye quietly monitoring the online world.

Last year the nationals website received 50,000 visitors throughout the championships while the official ‘hashtags’ were trending each day of racing.

Add to that a substantial increase in the metropolitan and regional ratings of television broadcaster SBS including 160,000 viewers during the men’s road race, and you have an event that is well on its way to being accepted by the mainstream sporting community.

Throw Cadel Evans into the mix for this year’s road nats and watch the numbers explode! Cycling Australia must be rubbing their hands together with glee!

While Evans’ participation in the road race is not 100 percent guaranteed, his registration for the event and his comments afterward seem to indicate that his presence will be a mere formality.

“Providing my training form continues as planned and following a final consultation with my team, I’m looking forward to lining up Sunday morning for a solid hit out against a quality field,” Evans was quoted as saying on the road nationals website.

While there have been whispers of him racing at the nationals since midway through last July’s Tour de France, many were of the opinion that Evans’ wouldn’t attend because, unlike his Orica-GreenEDGE counterparts, he would be racing without a team to support him.

Racing as an individual in any race is difficult, and in a field that boasts some of this country’s most talented and respected riders, the task becomes almost impossible.

Cadel himself acknowledges the situation:

“It’s always going to be a challenge taking on the larger teams such as Orica-GreenEDGE and Drapac without my BMC team mates in support but I would expect the race to give me a good early season form guide leading into a solid block of racing over the coming months.”

But then again, many would also argue that Evans has raced almost his entire international career without any significant team support, including his victorious Tour de France in 2011.

How often have we seen Cadel isolated on Europe’s biggest climbs – and yet he still manages to crest each summit with the world’s best climbers.

Buninyong is a long way from Europe and its mountain is no Ventoux, but Evans is still one of Australia’s best riders and isolated or not, the course will hold no fear for him.

While he hints at using the race to gauge his condition for later events, when it is all said and done, Evans is a racer who loves a challenge. If he races and finds that he has good legs, don’t expect him to sit back and make up numbers.

The multiple climbs of Mount Buninyong won’t faze him and the twisting, high speed descent won’t cause him to lose any sleep.

It’s nothing he hasn’t seen or dealt with before and if he gets a sniff of a podium finish then the competitor within won’t allow him to pass up the opportunity.

Cadel is a genuine racer and as he says:

“The nationals road race presents the first genuine racing opportunity of the year.”

A genuine racing opportunity for a genuine racer. What more of this year’s nationals could you ask for?

The fans and the media will lap it up and the championships will take another giant leap forward. Don’t miss it.

The nationals begin on Wednesday January 8. The men’s road race is on Sunday January 12.