Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2027

In 2026 the race was 186.1 kilometers long. It left the waterfront for Barwon Heads, Cadel Evans's home base, followed the coast past Thirteenth Beach, Torquay and Bells Beach, and climbed inland through Moriac to Barrabool. Then came the 21-kilometer circuit in Geelong and four ascents of Challambra Crescent: one kilometer that gains 87 meters, 8.7 percent on average and 11 percent near the top.

Echelons began to form in the wind at Torquay that day, but nothing was decided before the circuit. Santiago Buitrago and his Bahrain Victorious team attacked on Challambra lap after lap to get rid of the sprinters, and the field kept coming back together. Only on the fourth ascent, with Luke Plapp setting the pace for Jayco AlUla, did a front group go clear, and more riders rejoined it with four kilometers left.

Matthew Brennan opened the sprint just inside 300 meters to go, earlier than he had meant to. Tobias Lund Andresen came around Francesco Busatto, who was losing Brennan's wheel, and passed Brennan before the line. Brady Gilmore was third, ahead of Mauro Schmid, the 2025 winner. Andresen is a sprinter, and he had come from a Tour Down Under in which he won the first stage. "It's always a 50-50 in this race," he said of the climb, and he "just managed to squeeze over the last time."

The same circuit gave a different finish in 2025, when Schmid attacked a group of 12 with eight kilometers to go and won alone by three seconds. The race has been held ten times and has had ten winners.