Words and photography James Raison
A perfect Victorian morning, 130km of coastal charm, and the cycling company of Cadel Evans, Simon Gerrans and Phil Anderson – this is Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula at its brilliant best
he morning light spills over the Geelong waterfront, and three figures roll quietly into view. Between them, they’ve worn yellow jerseys, conquered Europe’s peaks, and defined
generations of Australian cycling. But today, Cadel Evans, Simon Gerrans and Phil Anderson are simply mates on a ride.
They spin past the Novotel and along the bay, swapping stories that blend nostalgia with banter. If you want to understand why this corner of Victoria punches above its weight in cycling, start with a morning like this. The sea’s calm, the road gleams, and three riders who once ruled Europe’s roads are laughing like clubmates as they roll out of town.
Our host locations, including Greater Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast, have long been quiet achievers in Australian cycling. History runs deep in the region, from the Olympic gold-winning days of Russell Mockridge, aka the Geelong Flyer, of the 1940s and 1950s, to a thriving club culture through the 20th century, and eventually the international breakout events of the 2010 UCI Road World Championships and the inaugural 2015 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
Today’s route is also a celebration of what the Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race means today – a race that’s grown from a brand-new event to an essential pillar in Australian cycling. The race gained men’s World Tour status in 2017, women’s World Tour status in 2020, and expanded its week-long presence with the Surf Coast Classic and TAC People’s Ride, which gives everyday punters a taste of the race course. To survive the last five years, through all its tumult, is impressive. To grow is exceptional.
Australia’s magnificent international summer of cycling is built on the symbiotic relationship between the Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and the Santos Tour Down Under. Together, they offer high-quality races and crucial WorldTour points. It’s no small feat to bring the WorldTour to Australia for most of January and early February. And that’s just one of many reasons Cadel’s Race is an event worth celebrating – and Cadel, Phil and Simon are here to do just that.
It’s impossible to summarise how important these blokes are in Australian sport, let alone Australian cycling, so I’ll avoid the clichés, platitudes and achievement listing that inevitably follow the three around. For our purposes, they’re passionate locals who love riding their bikes in a region that clearly loves them in return. Eyes are drawn to the trio as they zip through the towns, and occasionally, people wave or approach them to say g’day. The shared love of cycling is apparent throughout our sunny lap of the Bellarine Peninsula.
Happily for us, they’re also bloody good fun to be around. Being a fly on the wall while these three traded war stories was a real money-can’t-buy experience.
Rolling out from Geelong
Our meeting point is the Start / Finish line for the Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. Specifically, we meet inside the Novotel Geelong’s Tempo Kitchen and Bar for an obligatory pre-ride brew. The City of Geelong turns on a stunning morning with cloudless skies and glassy water across Corio Bay.
We roll towards one of the iconic, and sadly departed, Bay Crits host locations of Hearne Parade. It’s a tarmac loop burned into the memories of many Aussie cycling diehards curious to see who’s carrying early-season form into Road Nationals. We’re heading past one of Geelong’s best views and past the East Geelong Golf Club to make our exit from the city and towards the fringe farmlands.
Lake Road is where we depart the suburbs and head into the farming outskirts of Geelong. It’s a juxtaposition between new and old Geelong; we pass a new housing development and, minutes later, we’re rolling by a horse getting re-shod. The lush farmland continues for the subsequent kilometres before we stop to take in the Lake Connewarre Lookout. The viewing platform gives a cracking view of the waterfowls gliding serenely across the expansive lake. Once the phone snaps are captured, we’re ocean-bound with a dead straight run along Blackrock Road.
Oceanside we go
Thirteenth Beach Road is an iconic scene from the Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, where the peloton charges along by the stunning ocean backdrop. We’re heading in the reverse-race direction past the many lookouts that’ll tempt you to stop and drink in the view. Even Cadel, Phil and Simon, who all know the region like the back of their hand, couldn’t resist stopping to enjoy the immaculate view of the coast following the damp spring weather.
We saddle up again and roll through Barwon Heads, Cadel’s hometown, with its famous river-spanning bridge, and towards Ocean Grove, where Simon takes us to visit his store, Hendry’s. It’s a regional institution, established in 1976, with locations in Geelong and Ocean Grove. Following his international career, Simon shifted from Europe to Melbourne, then finally to Geelong when the
Hendry’s business opportunity arose. ‘It’s the best move I’ve made in ages,’ Simon tells us. I thoroughly enjoy the doubletakes from the cyclists dropping their rigs in for service as they see our trio mooching around the storefront.
Leaving behind the wonderful smell of new bike tyres, it’s a smooth roll out of Ocean Grove. We take Shell Road for several kilometres through to Point Lonsdale. The whole region is awash with cafes and eateries that tempt us to stop, but our schedule constraints mean forgoing the almond croissants and sea salt brownies peering out of their glass cabinets.
All about the rail trail
Our next target is the Bellarine Rail Trail, a 35km stretch of light, well-cured gravel running from Drysdale to Queenscliff. For our purposes, it’s a lovely way to cut through the middle of the Bellarine Peninsula and find some quiet respite from the sealed roads. Murray Road feeds onto the Rail Trail start, and it’s not long before you’re totally immersed in the peaceful farmlands.
The manicured gravel path is wide enough to ride comfortably two-abreast while taking in the legacy rail infrastructure and zipping past dozing livestock in adjacent paddocks. Trees overhang much of the trail, making for an ideal ride on a hot day. You only have a couple of roads to cross, Banks Road and Swan Bay Road, before we divert you off the rail trail to lap around the Bellarine Peninsula.
It’s an acute turn to Andersons Road where a lengthy stretch of gravel awaits. The surface is road bike-friendly with a thin layer of dirt and gravel resting atop hard-packed dirt. Like so many gravel roads, there’s some chunky stuff sitting at the edges, but it’s wide enough and quiet enough for you to navigate the gradual descent safely.
The gravel section gets more fun once we cross Queenscliff Road and the course veers slightly left and onto Manifold Road. Cadel, Phil and Simon keep a cracking pace and tight formation throughout this stretch as dust lifts off their rear wheels and small gravel bounces off their tyres.
Murradoc Road heralds the return to tarmac on the outskirts of St Leonards, and we’re heading for the ocean again. While I enjoy the mid-century frontage of the St Leonards Hotel, the riders can’t resist a quick diversion to the nearby pier where local fishers quietly monitor their lines in the crystal-clear water, and nearby golden retrievers zoom along the sand.
It’s ocean views all the way around the Bellarine Peninsula, with the Esplanade road never straying far from Port Phillip Bay. Our next destination is Portarlington.
Let’s get gastronomical
Cadel was emphatic during our pre-Big Ride route planning: we simply have to visit Portarlington Mussel Tours to say g’day to the cycling-mad business owners Lance and Lizzie Wiffen. Within minutes of arrival, we’re convinced (with little resistance) to climb aboard their 40-year-old Huon Pine vessel Valerie, and putter 3km out to their mussel farm.
Lizzie and Lance give us an education about how Portarlington produces 60% of Australia’s mussels in the clean and serene waters of Port Phillip Bay. After cutting the engine, Lance tosses an anchor overboard to hook and lift up a long line of mussels for plucking, expertly steamed by Lizzie, and served with some lemon and a crisp riesling. This experience isn’t reserved for former
Tour de France yellow jersey wearers either; you can book a mussel cruise of your own through the Portarlington Mussel Tours website.
With much reluctance, we head back to the docks and disembark for a noticeably slower roll to our next destination: Jack Rabbit Winery. It’s a simple undulating roll to our turn down to the vineyards, where we park up for a delicious lunch and drink in the views over Port Phillip Bay all the way to Melbourne.
Jack Rabbit’s food is a gastronomic sensation. I watched Cadel on the final podium of the 2011 Tour de France, but I’m convinced he looks happier when his pan-seared fish with pipis and veg arrives. The table chatter, once we’d started tucking into the outrageously delectable food, turns to our glorious day’s riding and the 2025 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships taking place down the Surf Coast the following weekend. The cycling never seems to stop in this wonderful region.
One final test
As tempting as it is to spent a whole afternoon at Jack Rabbit, it’s time to leave saddle up and tear ourselves away. We’re back on Portarlington Road for a quick roll to Drysdale in search of the ever-faithful Bellarine Rail Trail. You have a choice from here to stay on Portarlington Road for the most efficient route to Geelong, but the Rail Trail is so much more chill that we recommend taking a little longer for it.
It’s light gravel all the way back to the Geelong suburbs, where we have time to jump back to the roads and head for a detour to the iconic loop that defined both the 2010 Road World Championships and the Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. We cross the Barwon River and charge along Barwon Boulevard before veering left to the famous and feared Challambra Climb.
It’s steep, surpassing 10% gradients to steal all of your momentum as the road climbs away from the river. It’s a deceptive road that robs you of rhythm, with alternating decreases and increases in steepness. You won’t find any respite until the second roundabout, where the climb peaks and you turn right to begin a plummet down Scenic Road. But with a trio of former pros who have scaled the world’s most challenging climbs, it’d be remiss of us not to put their legs to the test, right? To no one’s surprise, Cadel, Simon and Phil danced up the climb with effortless rhythm, chatting as gradients that would break mere mortals barely slowed their cadence
We’re rocking the suburbs through Manifold Heights before taking a right turn towards the ocean and landing on the waterfront for the final drop down to our Novotel Geelong starting point. The abundant outdoor tables are ready to receive our tired legs with 130 superb kilometres in the bank. Our legends must disperse back to their families and bike businesses, or zip down to Lorne for
media appearances at the UCI Gran Fondo Championships.
It’s a day, a route and a group of riders who embody the quality and importance of Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast to Australian cycling, and you can feel it in every turn of the pedals. The Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race has become an essential fixture on the WorldTour calendar – it’s a love letter to the coastline, to the community, and to the sport’s enduring roots here in Victoria’s south. For Cadel, Phil and Simon, and for anyone lucky enough to ride these roads, that’s reason enough to keep coming back.
Experience Cadel’s Race in 2026
Experience five days of world-class cycling on Victoria’s spectacular southern coast at the Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (29January–2February 2026).
With elite men’s and women’s WorldTour races, the Surf Coast Classic and the People’s Ride, the event offers thrilling on-road action, fan zones, live sites and close-up access to the pros.
Come early and make the most of the region: stay in Greater Geelong, explore the lush farmlands of the Bellarine Peninsula and ride or relax along the wild beauty of the Surf Coast.
Whether you’re there for the racing or just the coastal coastlines, towering cliffs, seaside townsand quiet vineyard retreats make this region incredible any time of year.
If you haven’t visited yet—make 2026 the year you do.
For more information, visit cadelevansgreatoceanroadrace.com.au
The route we took
Our route is a big loop around the Bellarine Peninsula, starting and finishing in Geelong so we can enjoy the gorgeous waterfront views of Victoria’s second largest city and some iconic locations from Australian cycling folklore. In between, we’re taking in the regional cycling highlights and frequently overlapping the Mapei Cadel’s Great Ocean Road Race course.
We’re tasting the salty air of both Bass Strait and Port Phillip, smelling the lush grasses of the Bellarine’s farmlands, riding the lovely Bellarine Rail Trail, taking a mussel tour, and dropping into a winery for a delicious lunch.
Emerging from our food coma, we’re rolling back to Geelong via more rail trail for Challambra Crescent’s unique flavour of suffering before pretending we’re in Cadel’s Race with the finishing kilometres back to the Novotel Geelong.
