Wollongong will have one of the most iconic beach front finishes in the history of the UCI Road World Championships.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
So says Wollongong 2022 organising committee members Steve Peterson and Stu Taggart, who played leading roles in shaping the design and layout of the course 2022 championships.
They added Wollongong's natural assets of the beach and escarpment will also be front and centre during the championships running from September 18 to 25.
"We are really excited to showcase this course through the course of the world championships and I hope it is a course that the whole of Wollongong will be proud of seeing their city on the global stage," Taggart said.
"I think maintaining the race within the Wollongong Local Government Area only really gives ownership to Wollongong around the event.
"Going a bit further north to Helensburgh to start those races to obviously take in the breathtaking beauty of Bald Hill, Sea Cliff Bridge and the northern suburbs of Wollongong as you come down Lawrence Hargrave Drive with the beaches on your left - and still that escarpment on your right - and then come into the city circuit and then particularly in the men's and women's elite road race to be able to then go up Mount Keira, go across the escarpment on Harry Graham Drive and down Mount Kembla - to come past the steelworks and back into the city circuit for six laps for the women and 12 for the men's is pretty exciting."
Peterson, the head of sport for Wollongong 2022, said the course was designed to be particularly challenging.
"I think right from the beginning we wanted to make sure that we were designing a course not necessarily for any particular rider but to make sure that it was really attractive for the very best cyclists in the world to come out here, assemble and try and race for their world championship," he said.
"Right back from the beginning we wanted to make it technical and tough. We wanted to make sure that the guys coming out of the Tour de France from the men's side or the girls coming out the Giro de Rosa, those grand tour riders, the very best were attracted by the prospect of coming down here and potentially getting the rainbow jersey.
"What we've got here in Wollongong is the proximity of the escarpment and what that creates from a topography perspective and a technical perspective is really iconic alongside that beach front finish - 80 metres from the beach, we've got one of the most iconic finish lines in history.
Read more: Meet Wollongong's biggest UCI Road Race fan
"Raymah Avenue is about to become part of cycling folklore in the context of how difficult that climb will be multiple times and the attrition we will see within both the elite women's and men's race.
"It is going to feature really heavily in that outcome of the race, it is going to be really influential, and we will see the race won and lost on Raymah Avenue absolutely, so from a road race perspective it is super important and we are going to see the city circuit come alive with so many fans right through the week."
Peterson added the course was designed to suit punchers, riders who weren't necessarily great at one particular aspect, but riders who had a handy sprint and could climb up the climbs as well.
He said the strong Dutch, Belgian and Italian teams, as well as Australia, had riders in that category who were coming out and had strong prospects of winning.
"It is going to be good to watch for spectators but as it is a technical course, I think there's about 33 turns on the city circuit, there is not a lot of respite for the riders," Peterson said.
"Riders are always going to have to be thinking really clearly mentally about how the race is playing out, making sure they are concentrating. It will be physically and mentally demanding.
"But ultimately while the race might be very technical they can still carry a lot of speed in and out of the turns, so it is still going to be really fast.
"The UCI has been really focused to make sure we've got a race that showcases the city circuit and the fans. It is about making sure when the race plays out in a really influential way, that you've got lots of cycling fans yelling and screaming around the riders - that is what we will get here because there is such a focus on the city circuit right through the entire event.
"What better billboard for the final weekend then to start of racing with the men's and women's elite doing the same distance for the first time in the event's history."
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.