Grand Tour Australia

[RICHARDH]

Bored in the off season got me thinking, what would an Australian Grand Tour look like. Now don't get me wrong this is never going to happen in my lifetime, just thought it would be an interesting hypothetical . I imagine starting out In Perth transfer across to Adelaide in the first week Melbourne to Sydney 2 and part of 3rd. And this is where i wonder how we would go there are limited mountain ranges in Australia is there enough climbs through there to accommodate 6-7 stages of enough difficulty that it wouldnt just be 3 weeks of sprinting ?

[timbo]

Fitz's Challenge could be one stage.
The Audax Alpine Classic could be another stage.
The Sea to Summit could be another one.
The possibilities are there.

[vander]

Add 3 peaks and some Medium mountains around adelaide. You could get enough. Only need 2 or 3 mountain top finishes.

[AUbicycles]

It's a beautiful thought.
I think it would concentrate on a few states each year - in European Grand Tours, travel time between stages is criticised and the distances there are comparatively short.

Perhaps something like a Melbourne to Sydney would make for an attractive international event - like 6 stage race.

[briztoon]

I know South East Queensland doesn't offer too much in the way of hills.

Links didn't work, dammit.

But I think Byron Bay through Numinbah and up to Binna Burra would make a half decent stage.

Next day could see a Time Trial around the Gold Coast, followed by a stage from Tweed Heads to QEII Stadium via Tamborine and Beaudesert.

Next Stage. Nathan to Ipswich, out to Esk, back to Gatton and up to Toowoomba.

Next day, Toowoomba to Indooroopilly via Esk, around Lake Wivenhoe, up Mt. Glorious and Mt. Nebo then down through The Gap to Indooroopilly.

Penultimate day. Indooroopilly up to Noosa via, Clontarf to Caboolture, out through the Glass House Mountains then up to Noosa.

Final day, 3 laps of the Sunshine Coast.

[RICHARDH]

I reckon that the issue would definitely be the Transfers and the issue be if your going to call it a Grand Tour then reaching most parts of the country is a given. Most of the three GT's start most years in another country and then transfers through a couple of stages. The issue as i see it is that the really long climbs are all located in two states.

[redcorpsjames]

doesnt tasmania have some hills

[RICHARDH]

They do but is there anything big enough to really warrant a mountain stage . Mount Wellington maybe how long is it and would probably one or two more climbs

[MichaelB]

There was a full page ad in the latest bicycle Aus mag re this very thing - not short stages, but few longer ones.

Not sure if it is what you are after - it seems more like a mega Audax thing

[timbo]

The final stage could be a mad dash in Sydney peak hour. Whoever emerges alive win the race.

[Ozkaban]

The final stage could be a mad dash in Sydney peak hour. Whoever emerges alive win the race.

Come now. Do you really want to kill all of the competitors? Who'd race next year

[RICHARDH]

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/philip-gomes/blog/125219/guest-post-australia-can-have-climbers-races

Interesting article