The Ballarat Cycle Classic is your chance to ride the world-renowned National Road Cycling Course

The Ballarat Cycle Classic is a day of cycling for riders of all abilities that is held in the town of Ballarat, a historic gold mining town that has shaped Australia. By attending you can also help to raise funds for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute. The only regional cancer research facility which is non-government funded.

There are a series of events being held to cater for the road and mountain bike rider, as well as rides for families and a walk or run for those who don’t like to ride!

The ride options are :

• Family 6km, 28km
• Road 50k, 60km, 85km, 100km and the New 160km
• MTB 40km, 50km
• Gravel 30km, 47km, 63km (on Saturday)
• Gravity Enduro down hill (on Saturday)

For mountain bikers, the course is a testing 40km and tough 50km to the east and north of Ballarat in the Creswick plantation tracks. The 50km course was introduced in 2019 and does test your skills and endurance. Please note that there are cut off times on some of the loops, so if you miss it, you will be directed to follow the shorter 33km loop back t the finish line. This is the birth of a true classic for Ballarat and the Mountain Biking community.

For road riders at the Ballarat Cycle Classic, you’ll take off after the start of the mountain bikers, which will give you time to realise that you’ll be riding the Australian National Road Racing course at Buninyong. This will include the renowned Mt Buninyong climb. The route makes its way through the towns of Gordon and the rolling farmland before all routes joining together at Dunnstown and the last leg into Ballarat. Expect to gain almost 1000m over the 100km, a pleasant 1% ride!

The 160 km route is an extension to the Classis with some more roads to travel down to complete the mile century. 

The Gravel ride has been added to the fixtures on the Saturday. as if there was a reason to make a full weekend of riding. then this is your change to double up and do the Classic on the Sunday.

You can turn this into a weekend away with all that Ballarat and the surrounding area has to offer. Or if you live nearby or in Melbourne, grab your fellow Coffee buddies and have a morning ride to remember and you’ll still be back in Melbourne for the afternoon. Either way, you like it, enjoy the ride!

The Ballarat Cycle Classic is held in Ballarat is about 120km to the west of Melbourne, Easy to access by car on the M8 and by train with V/line. Take the train for the price and convenience but check times and ability to travel with your bike.

You’ll find other great rides, like the Ballarat Cycle Classic, in our online Cycling Event Calendar.

Enjoy!