Preview Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2025 | The battle between youth and experience
Cycling
The Australian trip is almost over for most WorldTour teams. After the Tour Down Under and the Surf Coast Classic, it's time for the ninth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race next Sunday. In Geelong, the remaining WorldTour teams hope for a good result before returning to Europe or the Middle East. IDLProCycling.com gives you an overview of the day.
The past week has been enjoyable in Australia. In lovely conditions, the WorldTour teams competed in the Tour Down Under, and many young talents, in particular, left an excellent impression. Before we leave the land of kangaroos, (most) of the teams will put on one more show in the Melbourne area.
If you look at the list of honors of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, you will see a division between strong sprinters and punchers. Last year was no different. Home rider Laurence Pithie, still in Groupama FDJ livery, won the Australian finale. Dries Devenyns was the last Belgian to win in 2020; a Dutch rider has yet to prevail in Geelong.
Practical information Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2025
- Sunday, February 2, 2025
- Participants
- Classification: WorldTour
In this article
- Latest winners
- Course, weather, and times
- Favorites
- TV broadcast information
Latest winners Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
2024 Laurence Pithie
2023 Marius Mayrhofer
2022 Canceled
2021 Canceled
2020 Dries Devenyns
2019 Elia Viviani
2018 Jay McCarthy
2017 Nikias Arndt
2016 Peter Kennaugh
2015 Gianni Meersman
Course, weather and times Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2025
The course has increased slightly in length compared to last year, at eight kilometers, but for the most part, it remains the same. The biggest difference is that the Australian race starts off less difficult and has few hills, but it can be a fast start where the wind can affect it.
Once the riders arrive on the local laps in Geelong, the heaviest part of the race also begins. After all, the riders have to cross Challambra Hill four times. The Australian showpiece is 1.1 kilometers long and rises at 8.5 percent. This slope is followed by a short descent, after which an incline of six hundred meters at 8.3 percent will send the legs into acidification again. After the final passage, it's another six kilometers downhill to the finish.
Weather
Next weekend in Geelong will be old-fashioned "Australian" hot again. Temperatures could reach above 30 degrees Celsius on Sunday, with barely any wind. Whether the riders and the fans will stay dry remains to be seen, as rain is forecast for the afternoon.
Times
Start: 7:10 PM EST
Finish: 11:45 PM EST
Favorites Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2025
The defending champion, Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), is at the start, but he did not stand out at the Tour Down Under, and you never know what can happen. Who does start with excellent legs is Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL), who finished fourth in the GC of the Australian stage race behind Javier Romo (Movistar), who surprised everybody by winning stage three of the Tour Down Under and thus finishing second in the GC.
And what about Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers)? The young American showed several times last week that he is in good shape. Should Pithie not be able to make it for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, they also have a man in form at the start with Finn Fisher-Black, who finished third in the GC at the Tour Down Under. Now that we have mentioned several names that can handle a hill well, we cannot forget one name: Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek). The young Dane won the youth classification in the WorldTour season opener.
Not only do punchers have a chance to win, but strong sprinters may also dream of victory. Sam Welsford (also from Red Bull) is the man in form with three stage wins at the Tour Down Under. Should he still be there at the end, Welsford is a great contender. We should also not forget Corbin Strong (Israel Premier Tech). Strong finished fourth in last year's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and is now back in form.
And what can guys like Alberto Bettiol (XdS Astana Team), Michał Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers), Michael Woods (Israel Premier-Tech), Rémy Rochas (Groupama FDJ), and Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) do on this course? They are currently not in perfect shape but could surprise on a course like this, just like Stephan Williams (Israel Premier-Tech), who won the Tour Down Under last year.
For the record, WorldTour teams Visma | Lease a Bike, Bahrain Victorious, Decathlon AG2R, Alpecin-Deceuninck, and UAE-Team Emirates - XRG have already traveled back to Europe after the Tour Down Under and thus are not participating. Because the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (like Dwars door Vlaanderen, Brugge-De Panne, and Eschborn-Frankfurt, among others) was added to the WorldTour only later, top-level teams do not necessarily have to compete in Australia.
Who are the favorites for the 2025 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, according to IDLProCycling.com?
Top favorites: Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) and Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL)
Outsiders: Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers), Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek) and Javier Romo (Movistar)
Long shots: Alberto Bettiol (XdS Astana Team), Rémy Rochas (Groupama FDJ), Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers), Michael Woods and Stephan Williams (Israel Premier-Tech), Andrea Bagioli and Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek).
TV broadcast Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2025
The first WorldTour one-day race of 2025 will be broadcast on HBO Max at 9:30 PM EST. The finish is expected around 11:45 PM EST. Of course, IDLProCycling.com will report on the race.
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Latest Comments
- Remco is still very young. And injuries can absolutely keep you from overdoing it and getting worse. The recent Remco accident didn't keep him from being able to ride a recumbent inside. Wout's knee is a different story thoughVeganpotter23-01-2025
- Van der Poel style is winning by a half a lap and leading the race from the end of the second lap.
Barnes127420-01-2025 - If she thinks talent alone will put her there she will not see many podium finishes much less a GC finish.....work as a team utilizing tactics to consistently be at the top.Germanrazor10-01-2025
- This was very informative! Luiz Antonio Duarte Ferreiraluizantonioduarteferreira02-01-2025
- Well explained, thanks for the clarity! Daniel DantasDanieldantas20-12-2024
- This is the kind of 'news' that belongs in a cheap tabloid. No matter how boring the offseason gets, nobody wants to read this.
santiagobenites19-12-2024 - I wish we could have seen him try. He'd absolutely get dropped before Pogi overtakes his domestiquesVeganpotter10-12-2024
- Talk is cheap! Next year barring crashes with a healthy team... all well be on track! Some need to talk to make a headline!mootman27-11-2024
- I do not see this event listed on HBO Max Sports Online? Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
MrYuck23-11-2024 - It seemed that he was focusing forward at the time of the crash, after seeing a quick video snippet. But one thing I think he should focus on more intently is breaking a bad habit he has, right now. And that is his constant looking over his shoulders. He does that so much, that I am very sure it is not good for him. Simply watch videos of the greats of CX and you will see very little of that constant looking over their shoulders. That is a behavior that betrays a bit of insecurity on his part. He shouldn't be so concerned, incessantly, about what is over his shoulder. He needn't worry they didn't all disappear. He neds to keep his focus more ahead of himself, and he needs to pay a bit more attention to himself, in a confident manner. It is very frustrating to watch, because it is apparent that he has a lot of potential, and is in much better shape thwan many of his competitors, but the mental game needs to be sharpened more, because that part of strategy plays a huge part in the final results
reemmo022-11-2024