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\u201cI\u2019m one of the coaches. A crew of us have come down, and we\u2019re supporting Kyle Willis who\u2019s an up-and-coming para champion. Hopefully he\u2019ll make the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve hit the road for a ride and every rider that you see out and about gives you a nod, and the drivers are giving us plenty of room, so it\u2019s a good vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buninyong and District Community Association\u2019s Robert Elshaug said the live television broadcast across Australia and the world provides invaluable exposure for the village.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt highlights Buninyong and the surrounds, and the number of people who follow the action from interstate is really positive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt promotes Buninyong as a place of historic interest, and the course is also highly regarded as one of the best tracks around, so that\u2019s a plus.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the businesses gain advantage from it… and overall, the community is supportive of the bike race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Village locals Sonya Sutcliffe and Miranda Donald opened their shop, the Buninyong Gift House, especially for the RoadNats weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had people in from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, a fair few visitors from the UK, a couple of from the US, and locals,\u201d Ms Sutcliffe said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a great chat to people who have been to tourist attractions across Ballarat, they\u2019ve had meals here and stayed locally, so there\u2019s so many positives to having the racing here.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re 50 metres from the finish line, so the location is fabulous.<\/p>\n \u201cWe admired the Gran Fondo on Saturday, the para-athletes on Saturday, and the elites on Sunday, and it was nice meeting the families supporting them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve gained a lot of emails for our subscriber list, so we\u2019ve tried to be a bit business savvy as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout Friday, the criteriums in the CBD attracted many spectators from greater Ballarat, like Mount Clear\u2019s Ken Rowe.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my first time watching from here,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve watched out at Mount Buninyong before. I used to ride my bike out.<\/p>\n \u201cI enjoy the atmosphere of the racing. We\u2019ve walked around, got an ice-cream, it\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n AusCycling\u2019s executive general manager of sport Kipp Kaufmann said the action was as hot as the weather.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a fantastic weekend, and it\u2019s great to be back to a normal event in Ballarat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone\u2019s come back this year, including some of the best riders in the world… and the field\u2019s as big as we\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n \u201cFriday night was a huge success and numbers were great. Some people have said it was the best criterium they\u2019ve been to, so to get that feedback has been tremendously exciting.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone has been happy to be out and about, and the international and domestic broadcasting has also been fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Kaufmann said AusCycling\u2019s partnership with FedUni is important.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re such an engaged partner that brings so much value to the event, and such a great international institution.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been part of planning, activations, and on Monday and Tuesday, they led sports science webinars with hundreds of people taking part,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat has really added to the reputation of the event and the university.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2023\/01\/RoadNats-19-300x200.jpg\")
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