Main Page What happens now?By Jeff Jones
The 19th edition of the Commonwealth Bank Cycle Classic rolled into Canberra for the final time, ending an important and memorable chapter in Australian road cycling. The Bank Race, as it was so often termed, represented one of the longest running major cycling sponsorships in Australia, only surpassed by the Herald Sun Tour which is 49 years old. The Riders Since its inception shortly after the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, the Bank Race has attracted nearly 500 Olympians and 76 World Champions or Olympic Gold Medallists. Australian stars such as Matthew Bazzano, Ben Brooks, Nick Gates, Jonathan Hall, Stephen Hodge, Patrick Jonker, Robbie McEwen, Kevin Nichols, Darren Smith, Clayton Stevenson, Jay Sweet, Scott Sunderland, Matt White and Henk Vogels have all ridden the race, and many used it as the launchpad to successful professional careers. Of course, the oft used 'great champion' applies to many of the international competitors who have graced Australia's east coast in October for the past 19 years. Uwe Ampler, Michael Andersson, Dariusz Baranowksi, Falk Boden, Vladimir Golushko, Joachim Halupczok, Rob Harmeling, Max van Heeswijk, George Hincapie, Jeremy Hunt, Andrei Kivilev, Roy Knickman, Jans Koerts, Mario Kummer, Thomas Liese, John Lieswyn, Olaf Ludwig, Eros Poli, Bob Rasenberg, Raimondas Rumsas, John Talen, Jan Schur, Ed Schurer, Zbigniew Spruch, Gorazd Stangelj, Colin Sturgess, Jan Ullrich, Jens Voigt, Marcel Wüst, Erik Zabel and Jens Zemke have all ridden the Bank Race. Many did so before they became famous, but many also came over to Australia after they had tasted success at the top. Why did so many do it? What was the attraction in travelling to the other side of the world for a tough stage race right at the end of the season? Most riders have well and truly had enough by that time of the year, but Australia also provides the opportunity for a holiday in the sunshine afterwards. Some have made it their second home. The Race
The race format is unique, and has evolved over the years into a road stage followed by an evening criterium almost every day, rather than the usual single stage per day that is common in Europe. Criteriums are the bread and butter of the event. They are popular with crowds who are guaranteed of seeing the riders travelling at high speed every 90 seconds or so. Although they often don't greatly affect the final general classification, their value as entertainment can not be overlooked. This year, it was felt that the race was a little too criterium heavy, but that was necessary for several reasons. Firstly, given an extremely tight budget and the cost of the NSW police escorts, race organiser Phill Bates had to cut costs by cutting road stages. Secondly, criteriums tend to attract far greater crowds than the finish of road stages, although this could be partially overcome by having the stages finish in the evening on a finishing circuit.
The fact that the race has often been won by climbers (especially recently) shows that the road stages are sufficiently hard to separate the field. Anyone riding up the steep slopes of Bumble Hill, Jamberoo Pass or Cambewarra Mountain can attest to this. This year's winner Dariusz Wojciechowski won the stage to Bumble Hill, and finished in the lead group on the Wollongong to Nowra stage, before sealing his victory with an impressive 100 kilometre breakaway on the stage 14 Canberra circuit race. Polish power was first felt in 1988, when Marek Kulas won the marathon Bicentennial edition of the Classic. The 1824 kilometre event lasted two weeks, starting from Surfers Paradise in Queensland and finishing in St Kilda in Melbourne. Australian wins were few that year, but things picked up in 1989 when Matthew Bazzano won the (much shorter) event, riding for Dr. Bob's Hampshire Homes team. There have of course been many more memorable stages and battles fought out in the Commonwealth Bank Cycle Classic over the years, far more than can be included in this article. Australian Presence Although there have been plenty of Australian stage wins, only four Australian riders have won the Classic in its 19 year history (Gary Trowell, Andrew Logan, Matthew Bazzano, and Nick Gates). As Jans Koerts said this year, "I think the race needs another Australian winner" to help boost its popularity locally. Both riders and fans Down Under are getting a little tired of being rolled by various Eastern Bloc nations! This year, the best Australian rider was 22 year old Western Australian, Scott Suckling, who performed extremely well throughout the tour. He lost a little time on Bumble Hill, and this turned out to be the difference in the end. He, along with many of the other Australians felt a little intimidated by the Poles early in the race, but realised later on that it was possible to take the race to them.
This is not to undermine the presence of international riders, who have been critical to the race's success. A glance at the names mentioned above demonstrates this quite clearly. The foreigners provide the Aussies with a much needed challenge, as high quality cycling competition in this country is hard to come by. The fact that it is the end of the European season levels the playing field somewhat. Ranking It's expected that in a future event, the balance of riders will still be Australian, unlike the Tour Down Under for example that has gone for a higher UCI ranking, hence higher profile teams. Was this important for the Bank Race? "UCI ranking is not important," says Phill Bates. "I went from a 2.5 to a 2.4 because I thought it was important but it's not. Exposure and promotion is important and my whole life has been marketing and exposure for the event, for cyclists and for the sport. The Poles have done well and it's important for them as a trade team II and it may give them the opportunity to increase." The Media
One of the most important things that Phill Bates did early on was to get the media on board. He was the media director at the 1971 national titles in Sydney, and that's where he started building his contacts. As the race grew, he knew where to turn to ensure that it got coverage on the national networks and newspapers and that was essential to its long term success. The race had over 30 hours of national coverage this year, and footage was exported to 140 countries. "It's imperative and has given our riders exposure," says Bates. "The last day we had an hour on C7 live, two hours on the ABC, 40 minutes on SBS and all the other networks. It's exposure that collectively on the last day alone is about 5 hours of national exposure and that's what the sport needs. It's a wonderful event that's given our riders the opportunity to meet, greet, and race the best bike riders in the world." The race has had two of the world's most respected cycling commentators in Paul Sherwen and Phil Liggett as regulars over the years. In the press, respected journalists such as Rupert Guinness, Amanda Lulham, Gennie Sheer and Jeff Wells have breathed life into the event with their colourful stories. More recently, the internet has gained a foothold as you can read now. The website combines aspects of television and the written press, and people in any country with internet access to follow the race in great depth. The world's most popular cycling news and results website, cyclingnews.com, has been part of the event for several years now, helping the race gain publicity. The Future
Since the announcement that this would be the final edition of the Bank Race, many have expressed concern that Australia would forever lose one of its greatest cycling events. However, this is unlikely to be the case from 2002 onwards. The Commonwealth Bank have been remarkably supportive of the event over the year, and in turn it has provided great exposure for them. "I'm not concerned with losing the sponsorship of the Commonwealth Bank," says Bates. "We've got to look at what opportunities there are, and when you've got an event that means so much world and national media exposure, there are surely sponsors out there who would wish to capitalise on it." "I don't necessarily say there will be an event next year. I need to remodel some things, I've got commitments with other events that I need to build. It's all time and it's one person who's driving the media and sponsorship and that's myself." "It gets to the stage where I would be very much an optimist in saying that we would be back with an event next year. I'd certainly say that in 2002 we'll something up pretty big. Someone that will take the Commonwealth Bank Cycle Classic to the next level." "We've already started working on something and I'd like to say tomorrow we've got a sponsor but it's not going to be that quick. Recently I put an advertisement in the Financial Review and I got some really interesting responses. I'm going to run a few more. I think it's very much an interesting event." "One of the things that was quite interesting was that in 1996 the world cycling aspect changed. Amateur racing became no longer really existent and trade teams became more prominent, and we tried to run with a structure that was really put together on amateur teams and not professional teams. To do that we need more dollars from a big sponsor. We've probably semi-stagnated over the last four years." So there you have it from the man himself. Phill Bates has been driving the event for the last 19 years, and it's time for a break. He has other events that he will run in 2001 of course, but none quite as all consuming as the Bank Race. It will be hard to predict the format of the 2002 event, should there be one. It doesn't have to be longer than nine days to be interesting, and indeed there is an argument for a shorter event. Criteriums will still be a feature, although perhaps they will be reduced in favour of finishing circuits at the end of road stages. Some things will undoubtedly remain the same, such as the superb Cliff Silcox driving the Media 1 bus. Cliff has driven for every race since 1983 and has been subject to a bevy of journalists' foibles over the years, but maintained his calm in the face of adversity. Once more it has to be said, "Boot it up, Cliffy!".
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