Surf Coast Classic 2027

By January 2026 the race had reached UCI ProSeries status, and the edition of that month was never run. Bushfires in the Great Ocean Road region first moved the start from Lorne to Torquay, onto a contingency course of 136.5 kilometers, and a day later the women's and men's races were canceled. Evacuation routes had to stay clear, and police and emergency services were needed for the communities affected.

In its place the teams rode a criterium in Geelong on Thursday, January 29, 2026: 20 laps of a two-kilometer circuit in Eastern Gardens, which Martina Fidanza won in a bunch sprint. The teams gave their prize money to the Surf Coast Shire community hit by the fires.

That leaves one edition to go on, the first, raced on January 29, 2025, over 118 kilometers from Lorne to Torquay. Georgia Baker, third that day, described a ten-kilometer climb at the start and attacks that did not stop. With 20 kilometers to go it was clear the race would end in a bunch sprint, and Ally Wollaston won it ahead of Chloé Dygert and Baker.

Wollaston said the wind had not been strong enough, or in the right direction, and that the dangerous sections were not long enough, though it might have gone differently if a team had gone all in. What worried her was the last five kilometers, from a right-hand turn down a descent to a roundabout, where one rider attacked hard and her teammates brought her up to third or fourth place in the line.