THE 2019 Tour of the Great South Coast is fast approaching, set down to begin in Mount Gambier on August 27 with a criterium around a Vansittart Park circuit.
The big news for the 2019 event is the inclusion of the Australian World Champion 4000m pursuit team.
Sam Welsford, Kelland O’Brien, Leigh Howard, Alex Porter and Cameron Scott will take on the tour, with coach Tim Decker expected to attend for several days.
The team claimed the Commonwealth Games gold medal with the first sub three-minute, 50-second ride ever.
Welsford then went on to win the scratch race a couple of days later.
From there the team lowered the mark further with a time of 3:48.012 at the World Championships in Poland in March this year.
Organiser John Craven said he was pleased to have such a high-profile team attend what has now become the longest bike race in the country.
“They are red-hot favourites to win the gold medal in the team pursuit at the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year,” he said.
“In my opinion Welsford is the best rack rider in the world at the moment.
“They are all in Europe at the moment riding track and road and will be back on August 1, so they will have three weeks in Australia before the tour starts.”
Craven said Decker had selected this race as part of the team’s preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games.
“He considers it the pick of Cycling Australia’s National Road Series events,” Craven said.
“To me that is an enormous tick for this event.
“This is a team that will excite everybody and to get them (to commit to the event) so early is tremendously exciting.”
As part of the National Road Series, the Tour of the Great South Coast has gathered momentum.
Now in its eighth year, it is the seventh time it has started in Mount Gambier.
This year sees the tour extended to six days, three in South Australia, which now includes a criterium and a team time trial at Naracoorte, before it heads across the border to eventually finish in Portland.
“This race is now on a level of its own because it has gone to six days,” Craven said.
“It is a genuine cross-border tour, with three days in South Australia and three days in Victoria.
“We are always looking for a point of difference and this event is now the longest bike race in Australia in terms of days.
“It is a magnificent course – there is so much variation and something in there for everybody.”
While the Australian pursuit team would clearly start as favourites to have a rider claim the overall honours, Craven said that may not be the case, considering their track background and the tough stages over the six days.
“I do not think they have a rider in there who can win the tour,” he said.
“The Blue Lake stage is tough – you have to be able to climb.
“Casterton to Heywood is tough and Cape Bridgewater on the second-last day is tough.
“But there are three criteriums – one at Mount Gambier, one at Naracoorte and one at Portland to finish off.
“They well probably win all of those because they are flat, closed-circuit street races.
“Down here at Vansittart Park they will be hard to beat.
“The Naracoorte time trial will suit them too, so if they can put a couple of minutes into the next best team there, one of their riders will be a chance to win overall.”
However, with tough stages such as Port MacDonnell, where the wind can play a huge factor, there is no shortage of contenders.
This year the tour will showcase the usual opening three stages from Tuesday, August 27.
The initial criterium sees riders tackle 30 laps around Vansittart Park in the morning, which includes 11 sprints over the 36km.
From there it heads to the Reidy Park school-Blue Lake road course to cover 10 laps of a 6.5km circuit in the afternoon.
That includes four sprints and four hill climbs.
Wednesday sees the tour head down to Port MacDonnell for five laps of a town and rural circuit over 128.5km, starting and finishing in the coastal village.
Riders will contest nine sprints and three hill climbs.
The new stage at Naracoorte on Thursday includes 30 laps of a 1.05km town circuit for the morning’s criterium, with 11 sprints, then a 16.1km team time trial in the afternoon from the showgrounds to the Naracoorte Caves.
Friday is the tough Casterton to Heywood road race, with five sprints and three hill climbs, while Saturday includes four laps of a bush/lake circuit starting and finishing at the Portland Surf Lifesaving Club.
That includes seven sprints and a brutal eight hill climbs.
The final stage is 30 laps of a 1.6km waterfront circuit at Portland, with 11 sprints involved.
