Ten years ago Cadel Evans’ bid farewell professional cycling in the inaugural event named in his honour.
Since then, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race has welcomed the world to Victoria, giving a platform for the sport, home-grown talent and inspiring the next generation.
In 2025, UCI WorldTour Teams have arrived in Geelong ahead of a five-day festival of cycling schedule, which includes the men’s and women’s mid-week warm-up races, the Surf Coast Classics, and the main races that take place on Saturday 1 February and Sunday 2 February respectively.
Race Founder Cadel Evans was at the Geelong waterfront on Monday to welcome riders including Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché – Wanty), Lewis Askey (Groupama – FDJ), Josie Talbot (Liv Alula Jayco) and Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ), stating he can’t wait for the cycling to get underway across the Geelong, Bellarine and Surf Coast regions.
“I’m excited and nervous, but I’m overall very excited to see what the event holds this year.”
“The event is great for the community and it is always great to see the locals come out and support the teams and riders throughout the weekend as well as get involved themselves through the TAC People’s Ride and the GeelongPort Family Ride, hopefully we get to see some great performances with the great cyclists we have competing this year.”
The 2025 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race marks both ten years since the inaugural event and Australian cycling legend Cadel Evans’ last professional race, with Evans expressing his gratitude for what the event has achieved since its inception as well as excitement for what lies ahead.
“My last race as a professional was the first edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, so ten years have gone by very quickly, ten years into this chapter of my life.”
“It’s ten years for the race where I feel we are a really well-established event now, but I’m also looking forward to the future, I’d like to think this is just the start.”
After finishing third in the 2024 edition, German cyclist Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché – Wanty) is aiming to improve his place on the podium in 2025.”Last year it was mixed feelings about the result, on the one hand, it was one of the best results I had and on the other hand I was really close to victory.”
“We have a really motivated team here and I believe that I’m capable of winning a WorldTour race, maybe it will be this Sunday, maybe it will be another race.”
Returning to home soil, Aussie rider Josie Talbot (Liv AlUla Jayco) is aiming for team success in this year’s event, confident in her teammates’ chances to achieve ultimate glory in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race – Women.
“I love being at home [in Australia], we always get a lot of energy from the fans out here and want to put on a good show and as a team we’re feeling pretty good for both the mid week and weekend racing.”
“We have many cards to play, it’s some sprinters and also some hunt riders, so we’ll see how it plays out.”
Member for Geelong Christine Couzens was in attendance at the official City of Greater Geelong Council’s welcome event at Pavilion Geelong on Monday evening, expressing her excitement for the event to kick off in the coming days.
“The Geelong community has really embraced this race over the last ten years and more so than ever now, I think this year is going to be bigger and better.”
“Over ten years it’s proven how popular it is, when you’ve got thousands and thousands of people lining up to watch the race, they’re really excited about it and to continue that is really important.”
The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race has delivered countless highlights over the decade, including hometown hero Amanda Spratt taking out the Women’s race in 2016, as well as most recently Laurence Pithie and Rosita Reijnhout taking out the respective Men’s and Women’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Races in 2024.
The event has grown into a must-see spectacle on Australia’s cycling calendar, with the 2024 edition drawing more than 140,000 people to the region.