Cycling Australia (CA), the trading name of the Australian Cycling Federation Inc, was the national

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for

bicycle racing Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...

in Australia, and represented the interests of affiliated cycling clubs and State federations. It covered the disciplines of

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

, track,

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...

cyclo-cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

, and

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...

. In 2013, Cycling Australia had nearly 50,000 members including Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) and BMX Australia (BMXA) members. In late November 2020, the three organisations rebranded as AusCycling. Cycling Australia was a member of the

Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces di ...

(UCI) and the Oceania Cycling Confederation (OCC). It was also recognised by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

, the

Australian Olympic Committee The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting, and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at ...

, the

Australian Commonwealth Games Association Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) is the Commonwealth Games Association for Australia, and is responsible for representing and promoting the Commonwealth Sport movement in the country, and organises the participation of Australia at the Commonw ...

and the

Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...

History

After World War II, the two organisations controlling cycling were the Australian Cycling Council and the Amateur Cyclists’ Association of Australia. In 1963, the UCI gave Australia "approximately 12 months to form one controlling body, to be recognised as the Australian Cycling Federation". It took more than 30 years for that to happen. Under the direction of Charlie Walsh at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

and national cycling coach from 1980 to 2001, Australia's international cycling performance ranking moved from between 20 and 30 in

track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its i ...

in the world, to the number one ranked nation in 1993 and 1994, and placed third at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney. The national coaching team of Shayne Bannan, Martin Barras, Ian McKenzie and Neil Stephens built on this foundation to take Australia to the leading nation in track cycling at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens. In late 2011, federal Sports Minister Kate Lundy called for an investigation into Cycling Australia. A review by Justice James Wood produced a 95-page report which described the organisation's set-up as outdated and complicated. In 2012, the national coach Matt White was sacked due to his admissions regarding performance-enhancing drugs. Stephen Hodge stepped down as vice-president for similar reasons following the publicity surrounding the Lance Armstrong doping allegations. The federation suffered financial problems in the early 2010s, after the approval of a strategy in 2010, which attempted to increase Cycling Australia's revenue through a programme of events organisation, led to the organisation making significant losses, compounded by lower than expected sponsorship revenue. Under the subsequent short-term presidency of Orica–GreenEDGE team owner Gerry Ryan, the federation's involvement in events organisation reduced, a new board was appointed and a A$2 million loan package was agreed with the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as S ...

, state affiliates and Mountain Bike Australia. In November 2020, Cycling Australia was amalgamated with two other national cycling bodies BMX Australia and Mountain Bike Australia to form AusCycling the national sporting organisation representing all cycling disciplines in Australia.

Departments

Cycling Australia had eight operation departments. * High Performance Unit (HPU) * Para-Cycling Program * General Operations * Marketing & Communications * Commercial & Events * Coaching & Development * Participation * Sport

Commissions

Cycling Australia had nine advisory and planning commissions. * Road Commission * Track Commission * Master Commission * Para-cycling Commission * Cyclo-Cross Commission * Coaching Commission * Technical Commission & Officiating * Athletes Commission * Women's Commission

Affiliates

Cycling Australia was affiliated with following organisations as of 2013:Cycling Australia Annual Report 2013
Retrieved 16 June 2014. * Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) * BMX Australia (BMXA) * AustCycle * Amy Gillett Foundation

State associations

There is a bicycle racing body in each Australian state and territory: * Cycling ACT * Cycling NSW * Cycling NT * Cycling Queensland * Cycling SA * Cycling Victoria * CycleSport Western Australia * Tasmanian Cycling

References

External links

* * {{Authority control

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Cycle racing in Australia

Cycling 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, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...