From operating room to open road: Simon Gower’s ride to the 2025 Gran Fondo World Championships

SIMON Gower was so determined to represent Australia on home roads at the 2025 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships that he qualified not once, but twice.

The 51-year-old is a doctor by day — and sometimes night, when he’s on-call.

“I do anaesthetics,” he said. The on-call part, which he’s just had an evening of, is for things that cannot wait.

“Obstetrics, or getting up for putting in epidurals, or doing caesarean sections, most of the time overnight,” he said.

Outside of that, life for Gower is presently geared toward a hilly 131km road race in Lorne on October 19 — the pinnacle event of the 2025 Gran Fondo World Championships — where more than 1,500 of the best amateur cyclists from the around the globe will compete across age categories for the sport’s coveted rainbow jersey.

“Having a climb straight out of the blocks certainly splits the group up immediately. It’ll be a matter of seeing what happens on the day, but that will certainly test everyone out,” he said.

Gower, a member of the Geelong and Surf Coast Cycling Club, is preparing for what will be his third consecutive tilt, having represented Australia at the Scotland titles in 2023 and in Denmark last year, where he averaged 38.96kmh to finish the 152.9km road race in 3.55:27.

Up until making his debut in Scotland, Gower hadn’t necessarily considered himself a cyclist. He started off in triathlon while studying at university, before moving to running. It wasn’t until the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that he turned his attention fully to the bike.

“I don’t like to admit it but it’s probably a bit out of control as far as the amount of time and effort that I put into it these days,” he quipped.

“I don’t see myself as being a particularly talented cyclist, but to be a fairly regular Joe and experience a world championships is unbelievable. There’s plenty of opportunity to qualify. You have to work for it, but it’s there and a possibility for a lot of people.”

Thousands of spectators are expected to descend on the region for the October 15-19 event, which coincides with Amy’s Great Ocean Road Gran Fondo — a public recreational ride that more than 2000 cyclists, including Australian cricketer Peter Siddle, have registered for.

“Road cycling events held in our shire consistently attract more participants than any other region in Victoria. We look forward to that continuing with this cycling extravaganza,” Surf Coast Shire mayor Mike Bodsworth said.

Gower said crowds were the best part of the Gran Fondo World Championships.

“To be competing with people lined up along the side of the road with cowbells and running beside you, which all happened in Scotland, with the roads all closed [to traffic],it’s phenomenal.

“I remember coming through this little village, and I knew there was a bit of a hill. There were crowds everywhere. We zipped through and the hill didn’t seem to be there!

“That hooked me.”

To find out more about the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships and supporting community events, head to granfondogreatoceanroad2025.com.au

BY SOPHIE SMITH

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