Surf Coast Classic course changed as Otways fire warnings issued for parts of original route, no alterations ‘at this point’ to weekend’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Races

As riders were filtering into Victoria, after the flight from South Australia’s Tour Down Under, the news was released that the expected course for the 1.Pro women’s and men’s Surf Coast Classic one-day races on Wednesday and Thursday would not be what was originally anticipated given a number of areas in the original course are now under warnings due to a bushfire burning in the Otways.

The original start line of the one-day race, Lorne, is – at the time of writing – faced with a Watch and Act warning while parts of the men’s course, which includes Barwon Heads and Forrest, were on Monday afternoon being warned to evacuate immediately.

Organisers of the event, which runs alongside the Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, released a statement early on Monday afternoon to say that the start of both the men’s and women’s races was set to be relocated to Torquay, with the race taking place on an altered course that would head inland to Mount Moriac and then loop back in to once again finish at Torquay.

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“The safety of our riders, teams, staff, volunteers and spectators is always our absolute priority. With the evolving bushfire situation in the region, relocating the start to Torquay and activating our contingency course is the most responsible and proactive decision,” said race director Scott Sunderland in a media release.

“I would like to thank the CFA, Police, local authorities and our event partners for their close cooperation and timely advice in making this decision. These changes allow us to continue delivering high-quality racing while managing the conditions in a safe and controlled way.”

The mid-week races will also be shifted earlier, with Wednesday’s 136.5km women’s event to now start at 10:30am rather than 11:00am while the 174.4 km men’s event on Thursday will move back an hour on Thursday, with a 10am start planned.

Organisers said they would continue to work closely with authorities to monitor local conditions and “at this point”, no changes have been made to any events on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

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The forecast for Geelong, near Torquay and also where the weekend Women’s WorldTour and WorldTour races are starting and finishing on the weekend, is on Tuesday forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology to reach 45°C, stretching beyond the normal summer peaks in the region. The fire danger, too, is at an Extreme level on Tuesday, one below the top rating of catastrophic.

The temperature, however is expected to drop dramatically on Wednesday, with the maximum forecast at 20°C lower as it falls to 25°C. The maximum temperatures are then expected to remain in the 20’s through the rest of the week, even dropping as low as 24°C on Saturday and 22°C on Sunday.

This all comes after stage 4 of the Tour Down Under was altered and shortened due to fire risks and extreme heat in and around Adelaide.