There were no great surprises in the recent #RoadNats25 route drops, with the road races centred around Kings Park, criteriums in Northbridge and time trials in Bold Park.
Given the City of Perth‘s support, this first iteration was always going to be centred on Perth’s centre – and so it is.
“We send kudos to the WA Government, the City of Perth, Kings Park and Botanic Garden and AusCycling for all their work in breaking out of Ballarat where the Road Nationals has been for so long and bringing them here to Perth for the next three years,” said WestCycle CEO Wayne Bradshaw.
“It’s a fantastic win for the city and the WA cycling community that has for a long time punched above its weight in producing world class road cyclists.”
“We look forward to working with AusCycling to drive the broadest possible community engagement over the event’s duration – and beyond. It is events like these that can really inspire people to ride bikes more often with all the community-wide benefits that flow from that.”
Bill Hayes, the director of EventMatrix – the firm tasked with delivering the #RoadNats25 on behalf of AusCycling, said Kings Park was a fantastic, spectator-friendly natural cathedral for the event. “There could be 20,000 people up there. It’s such a great location right in the city centre. Very exciting!”
WestCycle tapped a few prominent bicycle brains for their views on how the racing could go, starting with the elite road races. (We’ll scrutinise the criteriums and time trials in coming posts.)
𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒌 | 11-12 𝑱𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚 | 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚 (𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂, 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓-𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 7𝒂𝒎) | 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒚 (𝒇𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒐 6:30𝒂𝒎, 𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏 10:45𝒂𝒎, 𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏/𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓-23 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 3:45𝒑𝒎)
The fondo (81km) will complete six laps, the elite men will ride 13 laps (177km) while the elite women will close out the event on Sunday afternoon with eight circuits (109km).
Each circuit will be a 13.6km Kings Park-centric loop with 193m of climbing per lap, with Malcom Street the most significant climb at about 1km in length with the last 400m or so at 7% and a max gradient of 12.3%. Although only about 1km at 3%, Lovekin Drive inside Kings Park is another ramp that will contribute to leg fatigue over multiple passes.
Such short punchy climbs and potential for strong winds (and wind shifts) look set to create an open race with opportunity for different kinds of riders to win.
Doctor in the ‘roads’ house: recipe for carnage?
For Jethro Nagle, WA-based cycling commentator and host of The Press Room Podcast, who gets the win could be down to the wind, especially if the sea breeze kicks in at 30km/h+ as it frequently does mid-Summer.
“The Freo Doctor could be their biggest competitor on the day,” Nagle said. “If the Doctor turns up, Mounts Bay Rd could be carnage. Has there been echelons at a Nationals before?”
Hayes agreed the wind was likely to influence the outcome.
“The wind could switch from easterly to a south westerly tail wind down Mounts Bay Road which could help a risk-taking break get way and go out of sight,” Hayes reckoned. “I expect a reduced group of 10-15 riders will go to the finish.”
With 13 laps in the men’s excursion and eight laps in the women’s, the Malcom Street climb, “will take its toll. It looks easier on paper than it will be.”
Well in contention: Sam Welsford, Caleb Ewan, local dark horses
WA’s Paris Olympics track cycling gold medallist Sam Welsford who rides for German pro team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and Team Jayco Alula (GreenEdge Cycling) sprinter Caleb Ewan are stand-outs, according to Channel 9-6PR cycling journalist and commentator Tom McCracken.
“It’ll be raced like a European one day classic but a sprinter can definitely win,” McCracken said. “Caleb Ewan is the favourite for me. Sam Welsford can follow well and can fight for the win too, especially if he gets help from his Bora Hansgrohe team mate and fellow west Australian Jai Hindley.”
“In the women’s race Georgia Baker has to be a strong contender.”
Hayes agreed Sam Welsford would be strong show, “With his Olympics form and earlier in the year at the Tour Down Under.”
“Caleb Ewan might be the favourite if he can hang on and gets enough support from his Jayco Alula team mates. The same goes for Michael Matthews. It’s not a pure sprinter’s course that’s for sure. As the biggest team there Jayco Alula will no doubt play a few cards.”
Of local riders, Hayes said, “Stevie Hall and Michael Frieberg will give both the criterium and road race a good crack.”
Nagle agreed Hall could be a genuine contender in the road race. “Stevie Hall will no doubt turn out in excellent shape and be a Smokey for the road race – and the criterium. We cannot forget that many of his WA road race state titles have been won on super hilly courses such as the Jarrahdale course, so he can perform on any terrain.”
Nagle said another locally born road race dark horse was current leader of the Vuelta a Espana, Ben O’Connor. “I think this course actually suits Ben O’Connor and his aggressive racing style. Ben is a very underrated one day racer.”
In the women’s, he said, “WA has some of the most talented young women in the country. Mackenzie Coupland and Sophia Sammons will both enjoy the road race course and TT course in the under-23s.”
In the elite women’s race, Hayes wondered if, “Ruby Roseman-Gannon can back up her title from Ballarat?”
Nagle said: “I also hope WA’s gravel star Cassia Boglio returns from the US for the road race.”
The #RoadNats will run from 8-12 January 2025. Find out more about them here.
