TOMORROW’S Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road One-Day Classic carries high hopes for three young Northern Inland riders.
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Inverell’s Dylan Sunderland and Tamworth’s Sam Spokes are starters with their respective State Of Matter Maap and Drapac racing teams in the 177.1km single stage race.
Armidale’s Sam Jenner has also been selected to ride in the Jayco Australian national team.
It will be the 18-year old’s first UCI race in Australia and first time riding for the national senior team.
Last year he was a member of the Australian U19 team that competed in the world road championships in the US.
The course for tomorrow’s race was designed by former Inverell professional Scott Sunderland, who is also the race director.
“I was last year too,” Scott Sunderland said yesterday.
The former European cycling star plotted the course last year in his first term as race director in combination with Cadel Evans, who is perhaps the country’s best ever cyclist.
It is a challenging and scenic course, starting around the Bellarine Peninsula, winding its way down to Torquay and past the iconic Bell’s Beach onto the Great Ocean Road and to Anglesea before turning back into the hills and back to Geelong for a three-lap finish around a course used for the 2010 World Championships.
“It is a tough course,” Scott Sunderland said.
“All the World Tour teams from the Tour Down Under have been here all week and the riders have ridden it.
“They have all said it is a very tough course.
“It is unlike the Grafton to Inverell where you have the climax (going up the Gibraltar Range) early.
“This race all explodes late with the climax late.”
“Channel 7 is televising the race live all day and go from the race straight into the men’s tennis final at the Australian Open.
“So you can lie back and have a big sporting day.
“It’s great for the sports groupies.”
What is also great is the fact Tamworth Cycling Club president Spokes will line up with his Drapac team in the race while Dylan Sunderland, Scott’s nephew, lines up as a semi pro with his State of Matter Maap team.
Dylan, who turns 20 on February 26, has it all in front of him.
“It’s a perfect fit for him,” Scott Sunderland said of his team.
“He’s identified this as a stepping stone for him to get where he wants to go.
“He’s already been to Europe riding and this race will help him.”
The next step for Sunderland is to be picked up by a World Tour Team and compete in all the major European races as did his uncle over two decades of professional riding.
A world-class line up of 22 teams, including nine UCI World Tour teams such as BMC Racing (USA), ORICA-GreenEDGE (AUS) and Team Sky (GBR), five UCI Pro-Continental and seven UCI Continental teams, will contest the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
