Top five two-wheeled freedom machine teams coming for CEGORR

The top five men’s WorldTour teams will take on the 2018 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (CEGORR), while the Elite Women’s edition has attracted its highest calibre of teams in the event’s history.

The event will see 16 men’s teams, including BMC Racing Team, Team Sky, Trek- Segafredo, Team Sunweb and Quick-Step Floors, battle for critical UCI points and a strong start to the season.

While 15 women’s teams including Orica SCOTT, WaowDeals Pro Cycling and Wiggle High5 will treat fans to a display of the best – and fastest – riders in women’s cycling.

BMC Racing Team new recruit and two-time Australian National Road Race champion Simon Gerrans is expected to lead Evans’ former team after finishing second in the 2017 edition.

“You can see this race is so special to Cadel – so, to line up with his former team, and in one of the first races I’ll be lining up for with BMC Racing Team, is going to be pretty cool,” Gerrans said.

BMC Racing Team sports director Fabio Baldato said Gerrans was a strong chance.

“He was second this year and next year, with a strong team around him, we can go into the race with him as our leader”.

Gerrans will ride with the support of heavyweights Richie Porte and Danilo Wyss, however, tough competition in the 164km race is expected to come from former winners Peter Kennaugh (BORA – hansgrohe) and Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb).

Cameron Meyer (Orica SCOTT) could also threaten after finishing third in 2017.

With more than 100,000 fans expected to turn out to support the world-class teams during an ultimate weekend of cycling, Victorian Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren said the state’s visitor economy would reap the rewards.

“Major events like these create jobs, fill hotel rooms and lure visitors from around the world to regional Victoria,” he said.

“This is the strongest line-up yet, which will encourage even more people to catch the action and see all this region has to offer.”

Wiggle High5 sports director Donna Rae-Szalinski said that with three Australian riders in the team as well as the team owner and team director, it was “very exciting to have the rest of the world come to us for racing”.

“As a local, I have trained and raced on the very roads used in the race and never tire of the scenery.” Sprinters, rouleurs and climbers all fancy themselves in what is an attacking – and often unpredictable – race.

Cadel Evans, Australia’s only Tour de France winner, said his eponymous race could have a fast and sometimes windy start to the races along the exposed roadways, followed by technical sections, steep ascents and a rapid sprint into the finish.

“For the racing, I am very curious to see how both the women’s and men’s race unfold.

“In the past, we have had three completely different outcomes on the same course, so I am intrigued to see how the 2018 edition will be won.”

Union Cycliste Internationale Oceania president and UCI Women’s Commission opresident Tracey Gaudry said the upgrade in sanctioning for the 2018 Deakin University Elite Women’s Race has helped attract the most competitive women’s field since its inception.

“This race has become an even more important fixture on the UCI Women’s Road Cycling Calendar, offering Australian fans the opportunity to see the best of women’s cycling on an international scale,” she said.

“The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, with its progression to WorldTour status on the UCI Men’s Road Cycling Calendar, is now an event that the best in the business always want to race at.”

To stay up-to-date with all the news, events and registration information, head to cadelevansgreatoceanroadrace.com.au and follow @cadelroadrace on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.