This time next year, some of the world's best road cyclists will be racing through Wollongong - but exactly where is still a secret.
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Saturday marks the one-year countdown to the 2022 UCI World Road Cycling Championships, which will be held in Wollongong.
Wollongong 2022 CEO Stu Taggart said the route of the race was pretty much nailed down after years of planning.
"It's a multi-day impact - it's an eight-day impact in terms of the world championship events," Mr Taggart said.
"It's not like Sydney to Gong on Sunday which is a one-day event. It's a week-long world championship event that requires a lot of government agencies' support and coordination.
"We've been grateful for the support we're getting both from the NSW government and from Wollongong Council."
The course is the next milestone the public will see and is likely to be released early next year to give residents and businesses plenty of time to get their heads around what it will mean for them.
Mr Taggart said the COVID pandemic has changed the timeline of the final 12 months and he wanted the championships to work into the city's recovery.
It can provide some tourism and economic benefits - and let cycling fans all around the world know about the city.
"I think it's a fantastic opportunity to showcase Wollongong to the world," he said.
"I think it's a really important part of the city's development that they can host an event of this stature from a civic pride point of view.
"There's the economic impact but also just being proud that an event of this scale and stature is coming to their hometown."
Mr Taggart is now over in Flanders, where this year's road championships are being held, to gather information and tips to bring to Wollongong's event next year.
"We meet very closely with the UCI and their team," he said.
"In a normal non-COVID world they would have been out here at least twice in the last 12 months with their technical team and their broadcast production team.
"We're looking forward to spending more time with them in situ in and around the events to consider the things we have to bring into the Wollongong environment."
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