There is a National Road Series, but the cost for many teams to race all the events in such a large country is high. However, shifting priorities at AusCycling in terms of the track programme since 2017 led to budget cuts and ultimately their demise. Yes, Australia once had a national women's and a men's U23 team based in Europe which provided pathways for not only riders to carve out elite road careers, but also coaches. Meanwhile, Gerrans, a two times Tour stage winner among other wins, only took to road cycling to recover from a knee injury he sustained in a motocross accident. McEwen came from BMX, but the 12-times stage winner in both the Tour and Giro switched to road racing in 1990 at the Australian Institute of Sport that was created in 1981. It also says something that Australia's two best Tour riders – Evans and Porte – did not even come from road or track racing.Įvans was a former BMX and mountain biker and Porte a triathlete. But each have pursued road careers their way, at the beat of their own drum, and most often on foreign teams. Sure, many track cyclists have turned to the road, among them Stuart O'Grady, Brad McGee, Cameron Meyer, Rohan Dennis, Luke Durbridge and now Luke Plapp. Their priority has long been the track, where it is easier to target the Worlds, Olympic and Commonwealth Games medals that provide federal government funding. It is not due to any deliberate initiative by the national body, now named AusCycling. What's certain is that Australia is no longer a world road racing minnow, even if the myth of the country as a cycling outlier is a persistent one.Īustralia is no geographically closer to the European centre of road racing, but culturally, the country is no longer a 'new' cycling one, even if it's still a long journey for Australian racers to the pinnacle of the sport. It is still too early to say if Australia is a new conveyor belt of future champions. Evans won the world championships road race in 2009. Mat Hayman and Stuart O’Grady have Paris-Roubaix titles. Australians have won four of the six biggest one-day races in the world - Matt Goss and Simon Gerrans have won Milan-San Remo, while Gerrans also has a Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory to his name. The same can be said of Australians in so many other races, from the Vuelta a España to world titles and classics. In 2010, Matt Lloyd was the first Australian to win the King of the Mountains green jersey. Australians have also won stages and worn the pink leader's jersey. Hindley’s second place overall in 2020 bettered Evans’ third in 2012 which was the best result by an Australian since his own fifth in 2010, the year Porte also first put his head above the parapet by placing seventh and winning the white jersey as best young rider. Australians have also won a swag of Tour stages and enjoyed spells in the overall race leader’s yellow jersey. The green points jersey has been won five times by Australians - Matthews in 2017, Baden Cooke in 2003 and Robbie McEwen in 2002, 20. Cadel Evans clinched Australia’s first victory in 2011, a win that led to record bicycle sales and cycling participation in Australia. In the Tour, Richie Porte placed third overall in 2020 and fifth in 2016. The 21st century has been prosperous for Australian road racing so far.