Paving the Way: Australian Cycling History

Tomorrow at the Australian Cyclist of the Year Awards in Melbourne, Cycling Australia will announce its Tour de France Team of the Century to celebrate 100 years of Australian riders taking part in the world’s biggest bike race. We asked CyclingTips’ historian, Associate Professor Craig Fry who would be in his Team of the Century […]

On Saturday 15 March, CyclingTips’ resident historian Craig Fry was part of a team that attempted the Australian Audax Flèche Opperman 24 hour record of 770km. In this piece Craig tells the story of that ride, while considering Australia’s long and successful history of endurance riding.

This Saturday, March 1, the Darebin International Sports Centre in Melbourne will play host to the 116th edition of the Austral Wheel Race. It is regarded by many as Australia’s greatest track cycling event, and is the world’s oldest track race. To get you ready for the 2014 Austral, Craig Fry delves into the archives […]

With the 2014 edition of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour now underway, CyclingTips’ resident historian Craig Fry takes a look back at Australia’s oldest stage race, speaking with two Sun Tour legends – Barry Waddell (five-time winner) and John Trevorrow (three-time winner and current race director) – to get their expert views and memories about […]

In the early hours of Saturday December 7 2013, 12 riders set out from the Melbourne Cricket Ground to re-trace the original Broadmeadows course of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics road race. Organised by Brad Priest and Paul Munro of the Road Race Project, the ride marked the 57th anniversary of the Olympic race. Craig Fry […]

Jim Fitzpatrick is widely regarded as one of Australia’s foremost cycling historians and now the US-born writer has revealed his latest book, Wheeling Matilda: The Story of Australian Cycling. In this post Craig Fry reviews Wheeling Matilda and shares some of his favourite moments.

Hundreds of cyclists will descend on the Victorian alpine town of Bright this weekend for the 20th edition of the Tour of Bright. Compared to races like the Melbourne to Warrnambool or Grafton to Inverell the Tour of Bright is still relatively young but for amateur cyclists in Victoria (and indeed around Australia) the Tour […]

Years before we used Bitcoins to pay our iTunes account, cycling fans in Australia rarely saw the world’s best cyclists. Race results drifted back from Europe in three-month-old magazines or were hidden deep in the newspapers, all part of the secret code of being a cycling fan. In this 1980s micro-climate of Sydney cycling, Matt […]

The 53rd Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic will run this Saturday October 26 as the final race in the men’s National Road Series. This 228km ‘Mountain Classic’ held in northern New South Wales is considered one of the toughest races on the Australian road race calendar. Craig Fry delves into the race history, and highlights […]

The 98th edition of the famous Melbourne to Warrnambool one-day classic will be held this Saturday, October 12. It is Australia’s oldest road race still in existence, and the second oldest in the world behind Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The ‘Warrny’ is one of the enduring monuments of Australian cycling, with a long and rich history worthy of […]

The Goulburn to Sydney Cycling Classic, one of Australia’s oldest road races, was supposed to be running this weekend but has been cancelled due to safety concerns. Today Craig Fry takes a look at the history of this great race and ponders the question: have we seen the last of the Goulburn to Sydney?

As you prepare to cheer on the Australian cyclists in the 100th edition of the Tour de France, spare a thought for the pioneers who went before them, including John Beasley. John is Australia’s oldest living Tour de France rider and this is his story.

In this instalment of Where Are They Now?, Jamie Jowett catches up with one of the legends of Australian cycling, a man who made a mark as a rider, as a team director and now as a commentator and cycling administrator. It seems silly to ask about Scott’s whereabouts when we often see him on […]

This Saturday evening the 115th Austral Wheelrace will take place at DISC Velodrome in Melborne. It’s one of the oldest standing bike races in the world and after speaking with some of the folks at Cycling Victoria I’ve realised there are some fascinating stories that have come out of the race’s history. In this post […]

With the 117-year old Melbourne to Warrnambool being raced tomorrow I thought it would be appropriate to pay tribute to one of the races greatest champions, Peter “Bulldog” Besanko who won the Warny three times off scratch. Good luck to all 229 competitors racing tomorrow in one of Australia’s greatest Spring Classics!

“Racing is licking your opponent’s plate clean before starting on your own”, said Tim Krabbe in his iconic cycling novel The Rider. Kevin Clyde Sefton raced exactly that way, winning with not an ounce of his own effort wasted. Efficiency and results were what his rivals remember him for, some even jokingly called him ‘Jack’, as […]

Summer is upon us and for many cyclists and enthusiasts track season is here. For over 30 years the Madison has been a mainstay of Australian cycling. Once you understand what’s going on and how to follow it, it’s one of the most thrilling races in cycling.

“If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, if all men count with you, but none too much; if you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, yours is […]