The Jayco Herald Sun Tour, one of Australia’s premier sporting events, is coming to Beechworth in exactly seven weeks.
On Wednesday 17 October from about 1:45pm, nearly 100 of the world’s leading cyclists will end Stage 3 of the Tour from Mansfield with a thrilling 70kph sprint from the Beechworth-Myrtleford Road to the finish line in Camp Street outside Cycles & Saws.
The competitors will stay overnight at LaTrobe University, ahead of the start of Stage 4 from Beechworth to Falls Creek at 10:30am the following morning in Ford St outside the Town Hall Gardens.
Along with the competitors, among them Benalla cyclist and past Tour de France sprint winner, Baden Cook and other international cycling stars, Beechworth will also welcome around 200 support crew, media and organisers.
The Tour is regarded as one of the world’s prestige staged team road cycling events. In 2007 the 14 teams of seven riders will begin the race in Bendigo on Monday 15 October and finish in Melbourne on Saturday 21 October.
In Beechworth, plans to celebrate the arrival of Stage 3 of the Tour are underway. A committee has been established to explore and co-ordinate a range of activities aimed at both generating excitement locally and showcasing the town to both Tour participants and to the wider world.
Activities will include encouraging Beechworth workplaces to become involved in the National Ride to Work Day which co-incides with the Tour’s arrival on 17 October. The highly successful Bicycle Victoria initiative annually sees tens of thousands of commuters ride their bikes to work instead driving or taking the bus.
In Beechworth Tour Day will kick off with local workers and school children cycling to a celebratory outdoor breakfast in Camp Street where they will register to be in the running for a prize to be drawn by the winner of Stage 3 later that day.
Locals will also be encouraged to get into the spirit of the Tour by wearing yellow as a colourful nod to the Stage leader’s yellow jersey. Further details of local activities will be announced soon.
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