Preview: Men's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

One last opportunity for WorldTour success in Australia before the peloton returns to Europe via the Middle East, but can Caleb Ewan and Jayco AlUla leave home on a high?

09:24, Friday 26th January 2024

George Poole

Junior Writer

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Caleb Ewan won the national criterium championships in early January but has since seen his Jayco AlUla team struggle to make their mark

A week after the conclusion of another spectacular edition of the men's Santos Tour Down Under, Australia will play host to the first WorldTour one-day race of the season, with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race back for a second successive season.

Missed by many during the pandemic, the seventh edition of the race took place last year, with dsm-firmenich's Marius Mayrhofer rising triumphant to add his name to the list of fast men who have won this race. The new Tudor Pro Cycling signing will not be back to defend his title this season, leaving Ineos Grenadiers' Elia Viviani as the only former winner on the startlist.

It will come as no surprise that most riders who appeared at the Tour Down Under will also make the trip to Geelong, with the peloton eyeing up one last chance at success down under before the WorldTour season continues at pace in the UAE Tour.

Traditionally, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race favours the sprinters in the bunch and this year's course should be no different.

After a winless Tour Down Under, the pressure will be on Jayco AlUla to provide some cheer for the home crowd, but can Caleb Ewan improve on his previous best of second place in this coastal clash?

The course

The route for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

For the eighth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, event director Scott Sunderland has once again designed the course alongside Cadel Evans himself, opting for the same route as last year's race.

After leaving Geelong, the peloton will first need to venture inland through the farmlands that connect Barrabool and Bell's Beach. Much of these roads are rolling, if not difficult, with the route covering 2,106m of climbing over the 174.2km-long course.

Shortly after Bell's Beach, and some 52.7km into the day's racing, the peloton will turn right onto the much-vaunted Great Ocean Road, which will take them along the South West Coast of Victoria.

Once back in Geelong, four loops of the city circuit will make up the final 68km, within which the Challambra Crescent climb will be the showpiece. Standing at 7.7% for 1.24km, the climb will be ridden four times before the race descends at speed to the Geelong waterfront for a likely reduced bunch sprint opposite Steampacket Gardens.

The contenders

Although the Challambra climb is steep, there are 9km after the final ascent for things to come back together for a reduced bunch sprint.

For this reason, we can look to former top-ten finishers Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) to be in contention, alongside the likes of Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Max Kanter (Astana Qazaqstan).

Girmay won the Surf Coast Classic on Thursday, demonstrating his form ahead of Sunday's showdown.

Jhonatan Narváez began the Australian block of racing with victory at the Down Under Classic. Can he round things out in the same fashion? We think so

However, Strong suffered from stomach issues at the Tour Down Under and Jayco AlUla's expectations may be dampened by Luke Plapp's war wounds and Ewan's recent difficulties in the Australian heat.

There is always a possibility that one rider may take a flyer over the hilly Geelong circuit - after all, Pavel Sivakov did finish runner-up last year - and in that scenario, expect to see Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Tour Down Under winner Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) all on the front foot.

If you pressed us to pick a race favourite, though, the answer would be the red-hot Narváez.