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Herald Sun Tour

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Herald Sun Tour
Race details
DateFebruary
RegionVictoria, Australia
Local name(s)Jayco Herald Sun Tour
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Oceania Tour (2.1)
TypeStage race
Race directorScott McGrory
Web sitewww.heraldsuntour.com.au Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition1952 (1952)
Editions67 (as of 2020)
First winner Keith Rowley (AUS)
Most wins Barry Waddell (AUS) (5 wins)
Most recent Jai Hindley (AUS)

The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annually over five days in February, though as of 2024 the most recent edition was in 2020. It is named after the Herald Sun, Melbourne's only daily tabloid newspaper. It was originally known as the Sun Tour after The Sun News-Pictorial, and changed its name when The Sun News-Pictorial merged with The Herald in 1990.

History

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In 1952 the first general classification winner was Keith Rowley, a Maffra sheep farmer, in a time of 42 h 57 min 55 s. The first King of the Mountain and Sprint champion was Jack (John) McDonough from Coburg.

Australian cyclists dominated the first 30 editions of the race, before its status rose and began attracting overseas stars. By the year 2000, the race had shifted to October and Australia's cyclists racing in Europe began to compete in the race. The resulting rise in the event's standard saw the race become rated by the UCI for the first time in 2005. Several notable Australian cyclists have won the General classification including Stuart O'Grady in 2008, Baden Cooke in 2002, Neil Stephens in 1986, and Russell Mockridge in 1957.

The 2004 race was conducted from 14 to 24 October 2004 and involved 85 cyclists in seventeen teams of five. Thirteen stages were completed with a total distance of 1110.7 km, 119 intermediate sprints and 37 hill climbs, including the two category one climbs of Mount Baw Baw and in the Otway Ranges. Swedish rider Jonas Ljungblad won the General classification in the time of 26 h 39 min 55 s. Karl Menzies won the sprint classification and Phillip Thuaux won the Mountains classification.

After the 2009 race, the organisers of the Herald Sun Tour proposed moving the race from its traditional October date to February, with no edition in 2010. Cycling Australia approved the move,[1] but in the face of opposition from the UCI,[2] the plans never came to fruition. In the end, the 2010 race was "held over" due to the 2010 UCI Road World Championships being held in Geelong and Melbourne, and the race returned to the calendar in October 2011.[3] The UCI accepted a change of date the following year, with a January 2013 date instead of October 2012, but downgraded the race from 2.1 to a National Event, preventing most professional teams from across the world from taking part.[4]

2014

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The next edition of the Tour was held from 5–9 February 2014, and regained a UCI 2.1 ranking, permitting top level trade teams to again compete.[5] Due to numerous bushfires across Victoria the last stage of the race was cancelled, with Orica–GreenEDGE rider Simon Clarke declared the winner.[6]

2016

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The 63rd edition of the Tour got a huge profile boost when reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome of Team Sky confirmed he would be starting his 2016 season at the event, having previously participated in 2008 with the Barloworld team where he finished 4th overall. Froome won the overall title on the final stage on Arthurs Seat, making him the first defending Tour de France champion to win the race, with teammate Peter Kennaugh finishing second and Damien Howson of Orica-GreenEdge placing third. He also took the mountains classification.[7]

2017

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The 64th edition of the race was won by Damien Howson of Orica–Scott.[8]

2018

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The 65th edition of the Herald Sun Tour was won by Esteban Chaves of the World Tour ranked Mitchelton–Scott team. Michelton Scott dominated the general classification of the 2018 edition with teammates Cameron Meyer (2nd) and previous winner Damien Howson (3rd) rounding out the final podium.[9]

2019

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The 66th edition of the race was won by Dylan van Baarle of Team Sky. Rounding out the podium were Nick Schultz of Mitchelton–Scott and Michael Woods of EF Education First.[10]

2021 and beyond

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In August 2020, the 2021 edition was cancelled due to the uncertainty and unpredictability caused by the impact of COVID-19. The event was rescheduled to February 2022,[11] but was cancelled due to continuing uncertainty around the pandemic.[12]

In October 2022, the 2023 race was cancelled due to "ongoing logistical, planning, timing, and workforce challenges" but the race planned to return for 2024.[13][14] However it failed to return for the 2024 season.[15]

Winners

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Year Country Rider Team
1952  Australia Keith Rowley
1953  Australia Basil Halsall
1954  Australia Hector Sutherland
1955  Australia Allan Geddes
1956  Australia George Goodwin
1957  Australia Russell Mockridge
1958  Australia John Young
1959  Australia Peter Panton
1960  Australia Peter Panton
1961  Australia John Young
1962  Australia Bill Knevitt
1963  Australia Bill Lawrie
1964  Australia Barry Waddell
1965  Australia Barry Waddell
1966  Australia Barry Waddell
1967  Australia Barry Waddell
1968  Australia Barry Waddell
1969  Australia Keith Oliver
1970  Australia Trevor Williamson
1971  Australia Graham McVilly
1972  Australia Ken Evans
1973  Australia Graham McVilly
1974  Australia Graham McVilly
1975  Australia John Trevorrow
1976  Australia Peter Besanko
1977  Australia John Trevorrow
1978  Australia Terry Hammond
1979  Australia John Trevorrow Warracknabeal
1980  Australia David Allan Pony Sport Holland
1981  Australia Clyde Sefton Mansfield
1982  Australia Terry Hammond Clemenso–Mavic
1983  Australia Shane Sutton Clemenso–Mavic
1984  Australia Gary Sutton Clarence Street Cyclery
1985  Great Britain Malcolm Elliott Raleigh–Weinmann
1986  Australia Neil Stephens Repco
1987  Italy Stefano Tomasini Remac–Fanini
1988  Netherlands Adri van der Poel PDM–Ultima–Concorde
1989  Netherlands Marcel Arntz Paternina
1990  Germany Udo Bölts Caltex
1991  United States Michael Engleman Coors Light
1992  United States Bart Bowen Subaru–Montgomery
1993  Great Britain David Mann Coors Light–Serotta
1994  Germany Christian Henn Team Telekom
1995  United States Andy Bishop Echuca-Moama
1996  United States Scott Moninger Tattersall's
1997  United States Norman Alvis Sweethearts Oranges
1998  Italy Alessandro Pozzi Sweethearts Oranges
1999  Denmark Michael Blaudzun home–Jack & Jones
2000  Kyrgyzstan Eugen Wacker Mróz–Supradyn Witaminy
2001  Austria Peter Wrolich Gerolsteiner
2002  Australia Baden Cooke Française des Jeux
2003  United States Tim Johnson Saturn Cycling Team
2004  Sweden Jonas Ljungblad Amore & Vita–Beretta
2005  Australia Simon Gerrans AG2R Prévoyance
2006  Australia Simon Gerrans AG2R Prévoyance
2007  Australia Matthew Wilson Unibet.com
2008  Australia Stuart O'Grady CSC–Saxo Bank
2009  Great Britain Bradley Wiggins Garmin–Slipstream
2010 No race
2011  Australia Nathan Haas Genesys Wealth Advisers
2012 No race
2013  Australia Calvin Watson Jayco-VIS-Apollo
2014  Australia Simon Clarke Orica–GreenEDGE
2015[6]  Australia Cameron Meyer Orica–GreenEDGE
2016[7]  Great Britain Chris Froome Team Sky
2017[8]  Australia Damien Howson Orica–Scott
2018[9]  Colombia Esteban Chaves Mitchelton–Scott
2019[10]  Netherlands Dylan van Baarle Team Sky
2020  Australia Jai Hindley Team Sunweb
2021−4 No race

References

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  1. ^ SBS Cycling Central, "Date change for Jayco Herald Sun Tour", 24 February 2010, [1] Archived 21 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 30 May 2011
  2. ^ The Age, "Herald Sun Tour bid appears doomed", 23 January 2010, [2], accessed 30 May 2011
  3. ^ Leo Schlink, "2011 Jayco Herald Sun Tour back with a bang", The Herald Sun, 25 March 2011, [3], accessed 30 May 2011
  4. ^ "Gerrans questions lack of UCI ranking for Jayco Herald Sun Tour", Velonation, [4], accessed 23 December 2012
  5. ^ "Herald Sun Tour to regain UCI status". SBS Cycling Central. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  6. ^ a b Schlink, Leo (9 February 2014). "Fire risk too great as Tour cut short". Herald Sun. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Chris Froome wins Jayco Herald Sun Tour". cyclingnews.com. 7 February 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Howson wins 2017 Herald Sun Tour". cyclingnews.com. 5 February 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Herald Sun Tour 2018". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Van Baarle wins Jayco Herald Sun Tour". cyclingnews.com. 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  11. ^ "2021 Jayco Herald Sun Tour and Women's Herald Sun Tour called off amid COVID-19 uncertainty". Herald Sun Tour. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Herald Sun Tour cancelled for 2022". Cycling News. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  13. ^ Giuliani, Simone (24 October 2022). "2023 Jayco Herald Sun Tour cancelled but set to return in 2024". Cycling News. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Jayco Herald Sun Tour on hold, to return in 2024". Herald Sun. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  15. ^ Giuliani, Simone (30 December 2023). "The 2024 WorldTour starts here – A guide to Australia's pro cycling festival". Cycling News. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
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