Founded in 1952, the Jayco Herald Sun Tour is Australia's and indeed one of the world’s oldest cycling stage races. Staged in October each year, the race is owned and backed by the Herald Sun newspaper, Australia’s largest daily and part of the global News Limited Group.
The race is internationally ranked and recognized by the world governing body for cycling, the Union Cycliste Internationale. As such the Tour is a major professional teams-based event which includes some of the best cyclists in the world.
The first tour in 1952 was the first professional stage race held in Victoria since the 1934 Centenary Thousand Classic. An estimated 500,000 people throughout Victoria saw the Sun Tour as it was known then. Of the 56 starters only 18 finished the six-day event throughout Victoria.
The winner was Keith Rowley, a Maffra sheep farmer, in a time of 42hr 57min 55sec. He beat his brother Max by 49sec to win. At the back of the peloton, 19-year-old Roy Underwood, the youngest rider in the field, spent five of the six days arriving at the finishing towns in the dark. His father made a £50 bet with him that he would not finish. The Saturday stage saw a search party sent to find him. After finishing the last day’s stage his father handed him 10 crisp £5 notes. The total prize money was £1500.
 - Keith Rowley - 1952 Champion
58 years on and the Tour is undergoing a renaissance. With significant support from key Tour sponsors including Jayco and the Victorian Government, this iconic event now demands daily electronic and print news coverage as the stars of today and tomorrow go head to head in the battle for supremacy in Australia’s oldest stage race.
The 2007 and 2008 editions of the Tour not only provided a platform for Australia’s domestic teams to impress European selectors, but also attracted the attention of the world’s elite with the inclusion of two Pro tour teams; Unibet.com and Astana in 2007, and CSC Saxo Bank and Barloworld in 2008.
2008 champion Stuart O’Grady said it felt “bloody fantastic” to have won the event for the first time. “The Jayco Herald Sun Tour is probably the most prestigious in Australian cycling and I’m just very honoured and very proud to have won.
“To have my name on that awesome trophy is very good,” O’Grady said.
“It’s got a lot of history and a lot of great names, probably all the best Australian riders in our history and I’m just extremely proud to have my name etched alongside those guys.”
The Tour became a part of the State Government hallmark events calendar in 2005, with an injection of State funding to support the growth of the event and development of the Tour. A major revamp with a new business plan, new management team and enhanced world ranking has laid the foundation for strong growth with dramatic increases in numbers of riders and entourage, global media coverage (200 countries in 2007) and dramatically increased local coverage through Channel 10.
As such, the Tour is now a major international race and generates significant economic impact and media exposure for the towns involved. Australia is also one of the world’s foremost cycling nations, and the success of riders such as Brad McGee, Baden Cooke, Stuart O’Grady, Robbie McEwen, Cadel Evans, Trent Lowe and Matt Wilson has given Australian riders and events great credibility and interest globally.
|
