The Austral Wheel Race is the oldest
track bicycle race in the world still existing, stretching back to 1887. It is owned and run by AusCycling Victoria. The Austral race is Australia’s greatest track cycling event. It is held in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, riders assigned handicaps according to ability over a series of heats. The finals are run over 2000m.
The races in 2004 and 2005 were at
John Cain Arena
John Cain Arena is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena located within Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the second-largest venue and show court for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam professional tennis ...
in February. The first race in 1887 held at
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...
over 3 miles (4800m), with first prize of a grand piano valued at 200 pounds. Other venues in Melbourne to host the race include the Exhibition Track, the North Essendon
board track, the
Olympic Park
An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics ...
Velodrome and the
Brunswick,
Coburg
Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...
and
Northcote velodromes.
Malvern Star
Malvern Star is a manufacturer of bicycles based in Melbourne, Australia. The company was established in 1902, and went on to become a known brand in Australia.
History
Malvern Star opened in a small shop at 58 Glenferrie Rd, in the Melbourn ...
, a brand in bicycles in Australia, had its origins in the race. In December 1898 a young bicycle mechanic and professional cyclist, Tom Finnigan, won from a handicap of holding off backmarkers with a foot to spare. The prize of 240 sovereigns let him establish a suburban bicycle shop, Malvern Star Cycles, which became a household name under
Bruce Small
Sir Andrew Bruce Small OStJ (11 December 1895 – 1 May 1980) was an Australian businessman and politician. In Melbourne, he developed Malvern Star bicycles into a household name in Australia, then retired to the Gold Coast, Queensland, where ...
.
Corruption tinged the event in 1901 when the American, Bill Martin, won from scratch, to allegations of fixing by
John Wren
John Wren (3 April 1871 – 26 October 1953) was an Australian bookmaker, boxing and wrestling promoter, Irish nationalist, land speculator, newspaper owner, racecourse and racehorse owner, soldier, pro-conscriptionist and theatre owner. He ...
.
According to ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' in 1903 referring to 1902 "one of the judges appointed to officiate at the Austral Wheel meeting was called upon to resign, because he had a monetary interest in the result of the Austral Wheel Race."
In December 2023
Graeme Frislie won from scratch in record time of 1min 55.03 sec, an average of 62.59 km/h at DISC.
Prize money
Prize money has varied, following the fashion for cycling, from a grand piano to monetary prizes of 240
sovereigns in 1898, 450 sovereigns in 1902, to a low of $1500 during the 1970s, increasing to $5,000 in 1982, and now exceeding $18,000 since 2000.
Past winners
Past competitors include distinguished Australian and international cyclists, including Jackie Clark,
,
Steele Bishop,
Sid Patterson
Sydney Patterson (also known as Sid Patterson, 14 August 1927 – 29 November 1999) was a world champion amateur and professional track cyclist from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. While a teenager, Patterson won every Victorian and Austral ...
,
Russell Mockridge,
Danny Clarke
Dannahue Barrington Clarke is a British garden designer and television presenter who for two seasons co-hosted the BBC series ''The Instant Gardener'' with Helen Skelton (2015 -2016). He has also been part of the presenting team for Channel 5’'' ...
,
Brett Aitken
Brett Aitken (born 25 January 1971) is an Australian Olympic track cyclist. He has won three Olympic medals, including gold in the Madison event at the 2000 Olympics.Jones, Jeff & Stevenson, John (2006)Olympic gold medalist Aitken returns to ...
,
Gary Neiwand
Gary Neiwand (born 4 September 1966) is an Australian retired track cyclist. He is a former world champion, who also won four Olympic medals during his career.
Biography
Early life and career
Neiwand was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 4 Sept ...
and
Shane Kelly
Shane John Kelly Order of Australia, OAM (born 7 January 1972) is a former professional Australian Track cycling, track racing cycle sport, cyclist. Kelly specialised in the men's Track time trial#Men - 1 km Time Trial, 1000 m time trial, ...
.
The record for the most wins belongs to Victorian
Stephen Pate
Stephen Pate (born 25 January 1964) is an internationally competitive cyclist
Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, ...
with four victories: in 1988 from scratch, in 1991 from minus 10m, in 1993 from minus 20m and 1999 from scratch.
In 2000, Neiwand was handicapped on 70m for the millennium edition and won comfortably.
Venues
Notes
References
External links
*
Austral Wheel Race history
{{Cycling in Melbourne and Victoria , state=collapsed
Cycling events in Victoria (state)
Cycling in Melbourne
Cycle racing in Australia
Recurring events established in 1887
1887 establishments in Australia