Mildura has sights set on cycling bonanza

MILDURA would be an “ideal” location for an international cycling event earmarked for regional Victoria that is forecast to pump as much as $10 million into the local economy.

The world’s leading amateur road cycling event, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Gran Fondo World Championships, will be held in regional Victoria in 2025 and support is gathering momentum for the titles to be held across Sunraysia.

Cycling Australia’s bid to host the event in regional Victoria as part of its commitment to secure world championship events in regional locations and spread the economic benefits of major events across the state was backed by the Victorian Government.

The championships are the culmination of the UCI Gran Fondo World Series and are expected to attract more than 3200 international and interstate participants and crew to regional Victoria.

The event will mark only the third time the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships have been staged outside of Europe. Competitors from more 50 countries will land in Victoria and the event is forecast to deliver a $9.8 million economic benefit.

The location of the three-day event, to be held in September 2025, is yet to be determined.

However, Mildura Regional Development chief executive officer Brett Millington said the championships were “exactly the type of things we want to attract to our region”.

“As soon as I saw it I thought ‘that sounds good’,” Mr Millington said. “We’re keen to be involved and try to target this event … it’s certainly one that we would be very keen to see happen,” he said.

Mr Millington said the region’s fine spring weather, vast road network away from vehicular traffic and Murray River and vineyard backdrop would all weigh in Mildura’s favour.

“There’s absolutely no harm throwing our hat in the ring,” he said.

“In cycling they tend to like a lot of hills and we’re a little bit flat for that, but certainly we would be one of those prime candidates given we have an airport and all the other things that make us attractive.

“One of the things our focus will be on in promoting our region going forward is that we’ve got a lot of wide open spaces and people are looking for space.

“Outdoor sporting events are going to be a real opportunity for tourism growth in the future for us.”

Mildura-Coomealla Cycling Club president Dave Priest said there was no reason why the region could not host the international event.

“The club could help set a route for this event that takes in a bit of the river and a few of the vine areas and that sort of thing,” Mr Priest said.

“Given it is an international event, the distance is not so much an issue – if you are going to go from Melbourne to Bendigo you might as well go from Melbourne to Mildura,” he said.

“But an anticipated 3000 visitors would be huge … absolutely huge and ongoing, too, because if we can establish this route it might be something that attracts other cyclists.

“If council is keen to have a crack at it then we would certainly offer whatever support we can.”