Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic
| Melbourne to Warrnambool | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Established | 1895 |
| Held | October |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Victoria |
| Type | One day classic |
| Data | |
| Editions | 88 |
| First Winner | A. Calder, AUS |
| Most Recent | William Walker, AUS |
| Most Wins | |
| Record Time | 5 hours and 12 minutes by Dean Woods in 1990 |
The Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic cycling race is the longest one day road bicycle race on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) calendar, being 299.1km in 2005. The race started in 1895 and is Australia's oldest one day race and the world's second oldest one day race, after the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Classic. The route starts in Melbourne and traditionally followed the Princes Highway to Warrnambool on Victoria's western coast.
The race was a handicap event from 1895 to 1995, with riders leaving Melbourne at different intervals. From 1996 the race has been conducted as a scratch race with a mass start with up to 250 entrants, categorized into A, B, C, and D grades. In the towns on route there are now sprint points to be earned for a sprint champion competition. With six climbs during the day, a King of the Mountains championship is also at stake.
History
In 1895 Don Charlston conceived the first race after riding from Warrnambool to Melbourne in a personal time trial. The first race was held on 5 October, 1895 and won by A. Calder in 11 hours 44 minutes, with a 2 hours handicap start for the 165 mile trip. He suffered a puncture near Geelong which lost him 20 minutes, but crossed the line with a lead of 31 minutes. The fastest time during this first race was recorded by Jim Carpenter from scratch who took 10 hours 52 minutes and finished in 4th place. Of the 50 riders that entered, 24 started and only 7 finished the race. A second race occurred ten weeks later over the same distance.
Olympic medal winning cyclist, Dean Woods, set the race record time of 5 hours and 12 minutes in 1990.
In 1995 a monument commemorating the race winners was unveiled near the finish line on Raglan Parade, Warrnambool by two times Blue Riband Winner, Sir Hubert Opperman. An honour board was added in 2001 in acknowledgement of the many volunteers involved in the race.