History of the Austral: The Austral goes indoors

The Austral Wheelrace Honour Roll shows 102 race meetings have been held, all of them in the highly variable Melbourne night air. So enjoyable on one warm and balmy night but the next week it would be raining and the racing cancelled.

We had read about indoor velodromes overseas and how intense the racing could be, small tracks, so fast, and the spectator excitement. But we could only dream.

Finally, Melbourne did realise that the sports mad city had to have a velodrome and the word was out, there would be two!

The main world class multi-sport venue was completed in 2000 in the Olympic precinct and had a retractable roof for tennis. The wooden track was 250 metres in length and in cycling mode had a seating capacity of 4,500. With naming rights it was known as Vodafone Arena and it hosted the UCI Track World Championships in 2004 and 2012.

Without hesitation the Austral was taken there for the 2001 season.

The first ever indoor Austral winner, riding from 80 metres, was a junior, not just any junior, but Mark French.

The first rider to win an Austral indoors at Vodafone Arena was junior Mark French. Not just any junior but one with the leg speed of Gary Neiwand and twice junior sprint world champion.

French was a sprinter and had the leg speed of Gary Neiwand. No surprise then he was junior sprint world champion in 2001 and 2002. He also collected world championships in the 2001 junior team sprint and the 2002 junior keirin.

In 2004, he became embroiled in a drug scandal, was banned for two years, then on appeal was exonerated and received two large payouts for defamation. Before and after that he was taking wins and placings in elite national championships, Oceania Championships, and World Cups, and competed at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Following on from French’s win was Tasmanian Darren Young winning from scratch in 2002.

In a bizarre program typo the next year was his 2002 photo but captioned 'photo 2003 winner'. It must have inspired him for yes, he did win the 2003 race, again from scratch. This made him the only back-to-back winner in the entire history of the event.

Darren Young remains in the history books as the only back-to-back winner of the Austral Wheelrace.

Vodafone Arena hosted the Austral for eight years from 2001 to 2008 in which period one more rider, Ben Kersten, won from scratch. Another two Australs were conducted there in 2009 and 2010 under the new name of Hisense Arena and the last winner there was Ben Sanders (80 metres) the son of Dave Sanders, who won back in 1978 at Coburg.

The second 250 metre indoor velodrome opened in 2005, built precisely over the site of the original Northcote concrete Velodrome and was named the Darebin International Sports Centre, otherwise known as DISC.

It was originally intended to be a bare training track in support of the main city velodrome but in recognition of his input in having the plan and facilities extended to include spectator capacity, the venue was further named The Joe Ciavola Velodrome.

The Austral Wheelrace reverted to DISC from 2011 till 2014, where the last was won by a lone Japanese visitor Minori Shinmura from 105 metres.

Jason Niblett won the 2013 Austral Wheelrace from 90 metres.

In December 2014, the Austral Wheelrace travelled back to the venue that did truly match it’s prestige, Hisense Arena. It also drew a good entry with strong groups from New South Wales and South Australia plus a powerful squad from New Zealand.

Despite the great Aussie group of backmarkers, the likes of Cameron Meyer, Glenn O’Shea, Jack Bobridge, Matthew Glaetzer and Leigh Howard, the visitors prevailed, perhaps indicating the handicapper underestimated their true talent.

New Zealander Zach Williams had the fast run down the centre of the track making it a real close finish. The camera was needed to decide it that Williams was the winner from Cameron Scott and Nick Yallouris in third.

Head-on photo of the 2014 Austral at Hisense shows Zach Williams charging down the centre of the track but the finish was so close requiring the photo finish confirming Williams just getting there from Cameron Scott on the bottom and Nick Yallouris in the middle, in third. (Picture: Ray Bowles)

Flashback to the March 2014 running of the Austral at DISC and there was a lanky lad from Blackburn winning the Junior Austral.

His name was Kelland O’Brien. Through the next few years he turned out to be a very personable, happy go lucky rider, and he certainly kept on winning races. In later times he seemed to be always wearing tops with multi-coloured bands or have gold medals around his neck. Of late, he is an Olympic champion and a WorldTour rider.

A lanky lad from Blackburn wins the 2014 Junior Austral at DISC, name, Kelland O’Brien. (Picture: Ray Bowles)

But this is about the Austral Wheelrace and of course he has planted his name there also with a win in 2019 at Melbourne Arena, and a repeat in 2023 at DISC, both from scratch. A two-time winner, or three if you count his junior victory.

Kelland O'Brien winning the 2019 Austral. (Picture: Con Chronis)

In the same recent times there has been another double winner and that is Sam Gallagher. His first win was in 2018 at Hisense Arena from 90 metres. Three years later, which included a year missing due to the COVID pandemic, he was now on scratch for his 2021 win in a Victorian heavy field due to travel restrictions.

We are now at the current position in Austral history with the most recent winner, Graeme Frislie, winning from scratch in 2023.

His performances are well matched with a scratchman’s Austral and we are looking at a demographic in which four of the last five Australs have been won from scratch. Whoever wins in 2024 will be the hero of the night, maybe until the next annual event, and maybe forever on the Austral Wheelrace Honour Roll.

Graeme Frislie is the most recent winner of the men's Austral Wheelrace. (Picture: Josh Chadwick)

Women join the Austral

History shows that the Austral for women got off to what might be almost called a false start. Credit goes to Cyclists International for initiating the inaugural Austral in their meeting at Northcote Velodrome in 2000.

During that inaugural women's Austral Wheelrace, there were 21 entries drawn into two heats and the winner was Helen Ingpen from 210 metres.

What happened next was a sad combination of changing promoters, a lack of commitment and rider numbers.

For the next eleven years there was no Austral for women.

In 2011, Annette Edmondson was in Australian Institute of Sport colours riding off scratch and one of several lifting the image of women’s cycling in Melbourne.

Annette Edmondson is pushed by 2013 men's Austral winner Jason Niblett at the start of the 2015 women's Austral. (Picture: Con Chronis)

She won the women’s handicap from scratch on the 2011 Austral night but it was still not called Austral.

Next year was the year of change. Edmondson again won the handicap from scratch and it was now called the Women’s Austral.

That version of the Austral has been promoted annually ever since.

Brooke Tucker won the 2014 women's Austral Wheelrace from 110 metres while still a teenager. (Picture: Con Chronis)

Still at her best, Edmondson won again from scratch in 2015.

Annette Edmondson after winning the 2015 women's Austral Wheelrace. (Picture: Con Chronis)

Somewhat akin to the men, the scratch riders have won the last five Australs, with Georgia Baker winning in 2019, Lucinda Stewart in 2021, Maeve Plouffe in the first Austral of 2022, Alexandra Manly in the second Austral of 2022, and then Baker became a two-time winner in 2023.

It seems that the elite institute type riders are still improving and teaming better while the average rider remains an average rider.

Georgia Baker celebrates after winning the 2019 women's Austral Wheelrace. (Picture: Con Chronis)

Top and tail of the scratch winners group is the consistent Baker, who simply cruised across the line last year ahead.

There looks to be a promising proportion of girls racing in the junior categories that will hopefully now sustain women’s Australs into the future.

Alexandra Manly pipped Georgia Baker on the line to win the second women's Austral Wheelrace of 2022. (Picture: Josh Chadwick)

This recount of Austral Wheelrace history concludes at the 2023 event. We look forward to another 100 years of history.

Feature image: Annette Edmondson winning the 2015 women's Austral Wheelrace (Picture: Con Chronis)