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Preview: What you need to know about the Road National Championships
Jan 7, 2025
The 2025 cycling season is here. For the first time in a generation, all eyes will be on Perth as the AusCycling Road National Championships enters a new era.
Over the next five days from January 8−12, wheels will spin, history will be written and champions will be crowned in WA. Here’s everything you need to know about Australia’s most prestigious road cycling event.
Why does it matter?
Every Australian cyclist wants to win the national championship during their career.
When you win, you get to wear the Australian champion’s jersey for the year. Over the next 12 months, wherever you ride, you’ll stand out from the peloton as the champion of Aussie cycling.
Expect to get special treatment, more TV time and bigger cheers from the crowd at all the big races, whether here or overseas.
For the rest of your career, you can wear the green-and-gold bands around your jersey sleeves as a permanent reminder of your glorious achievement.
Plus, the National Championships are the opening event of the season. Fans get their first chance to see their heroes on new bikes, wearing new jerseys and, for some, on new teams. After all the pre-season training, it’s finally time to get stuck into racing.
What races are on?
There are three disciplines at these National Championships.
Wednesday and Thursday will host the time trials. Riders race one-by-one around the course, trying to set the quickest time against the clock. It’s a pure test of power, aerodynamics and pacing.
On Friday, we’ll see the criteriums in Northbridge. These are short, intense races on a street circuit. Expect high speeds, razor-sharp cornering, explosive sprints and (probably) a crash or two.
Criteriums are intense races with high speeds. (Photo: Con Chronis)
Saturday and Sunday will bring the road races, the pinnacle event. These are races of endurance, tactics and strength held on multiple laps of a circuit through Kings Park and the CBD.
Each discipline will be contested by the Under-19, Under-23 and Elite age categories. There are also championships for para-cyclists, deaf athletes, transplant recipients and athletes with an intellectual impairment. In addition, there’s a club team time trial, masters-age races and a recreational ride, the Steadyrack Gran Fondo National Championships.
If you’re in Perth and short on time, the elite criteriums on Friday evening and road races on Sunday will be the races to watch.
What are the courses like?
The time trial around Bold Park is fast and flowy. There are a couple of corners and two moderate climbing sections, but plenty of long straight, sections to get the power down. It suits a time-trialling specialist.
The criterium, by contrast, is tight and technical. With six corners on a 1.2-kilometre street circuit, this will be proper crit racing. It’ll be a constant fight for position, especially along the back straight into the final corners.
The road race will be defined by the punchy climb through the CBD and up Malcolm Street. It’s steepest at the top, hitting up to 12% gradient over those final, punishing 200 metres. Crucially, it tops out just 400 metres before the finish.
The whole 13.6km circuit is spectacular: flowing through Kings Park and Botanic Gardens, charging along the Swan River, and climbing amid the skyscrapers of our western capital. There’s less elevation than the old National Championship course in Ballarat, but over 13 laps for the elite men, it’ll still be tough.
What else is happening?
There’s plenty to see and do besides bike racing.
On Friday afternoon, bring your bike to Northbridge to participate in the AusBike Free Family Ride, a leisurely spin around the closed streets that make up the criterium course.
On Sunday, head over to the AusBike Family Zone in Kings Park, where there will be heaps of activities for all ages. Think: face painting, free bike clinics, a scavenger hunt and – for thrill seekers – a giant airbag for jumping your BMX or mountain bike into.
There's plenty of fun for the kids at the AusBike Family Zone.
On both Friday and Sunday, there will be expos to browse and pop-ups to enjoy.
Even if you’re not into bikes, come down to soak in the party atmosphere and just have a good time. For more information, see our Spectator Guide.
Where’s the best place to watch roadside?
On Wednesday and Thursday, set yourself up outside Perth High Performance Centre (formerly HBF Stadium) to soak up all the excitement of the time trials.
On Friday, the whole of Northbridge will be abuzz for the criteriums. We recommend checking out the GWM Cannon Club at Northbridge Piazza and stopping into one of the Hahn Official Clubhouse Venues along the course.
On Saturday and Sunday, the best vantage point will be at the top of Malcolm Street, just outside Kings Park. For the elite road races, this will transform into Pedal Mafia Mountain, with a DJ, pop-up bar, big screen and a party atmosphere to keep the vibes high.
For more ideas, see our Spectator Guide.
Who is racing?
Defending road race champions Luke Plapp and Ruby Roseman-Gannon headline the start lists, both aiming to reclaim their crowns (a fourth straight title, in Plapp’s case).
On the men’s side, Perth’s Jai Hindley and Sam Welsford, both riding for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, have come home in search of victory.
Luke Durbridge will be in action in his hometown. (Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency)
Intriguingly, Welsford will line up against his gold medal-winning teammates from the Olympic Games track pursuit: Conor Leahy, Oliver Bleddyn and Kelland O’Brien.
O’Brien and Plapp will be joined by Chris Harper, Michael Hepburn and hometown hero Luke Durbridge, all racing for Team Jayco AlUla, Australia’s only WorldTour team.
They will be challenged by Jay Vine, a former time trial champion and winner of the mountains jersey at the Vuelta a Espana. Fellow WorldTour riders Robert Stannard and Patrick Eddy will also be in action.
The women’s field includes the last five road race champions. As well as Roseman-Gannon, we’ll see Brodie Chapman, Nicole Frain, Sarah Roy and three-time winner Amanda Spratt in Perth.
Alex Manly will debut for her new team, AG Insurance – Soudal, alongside Anya Louw.
Roseman-Gannon will seek to defend her criterium and road race titles. (Photo: Con Chronis)
Lauretta Hanson, Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (both from Lidl-Trek), Josie Talbot and Amber Pate (both Liv AlUla Jayco) and Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto) round out the Women’s WorldTour riders.
Australia’s best para-cyclists will be in action, too. Carol Cooke, a triple Paralympic gold medallist, will bid farewell in her last major race. She will compete alongside fellow Paralympic champions Amanda Reid, Paige Greco and Darren Hicks.
For more, read our analysis on the 10 key riders to watch. For full start lists, click here.
How can I watch it on TV?
Check below for live streaming and broadcasts of the National Championships. You’ll also be able to watch daily highlights on the AusCycling YouTube channel.
Friday, January 10
2:45pm AWST
U23 Men Criterium
Fox Sports, Kayo
4:00pm AWST
Elite Criteriums
SBS On Demand, Fox Sports, Kayo
Saturday, January 11
1:00pm AWST
U23 Men Road Race
SBS VICELAND, SBS On Demand, Fox Sports, Kayo
Sunday, January 12
10:30am AWST
Elite & U23 Women Road Race
SBS, SBS On Demand, Fox Sports, Kayo
4:00pm AWST
Elite Men Road Race
SBS VICELAND, SBS On Demand, Fox Sports, Kayo
Who should I follow on social media?
Use the hashtag #RoadNats25 and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.