Goulburn to Sydney Classic

Goulburn to Sydney
A line of cyclists coming through the arch of the railway bridge at Picton circa 1934
General
Established	1902
Held	September
Country	Australia
Region	New South Wales
Type	One day classic
Data
Editions	93
First Winner	Charlie Littlechild, (NSW)
Most Recent	Luke Davison, (NSW)
Most fastest times	5 – Kerry Hoole, (NSW)

A line of cyclists coming through the arch of the railway bridge at Picton circa 1934

The Goulburn to Sydney cycling race was a one-day road bicycle race . The race started in 1902 and the most recent event was in 2012.

The route from Goulburn to Sydney was popular with cyclists in the late 19th century and numerous record attempts were made for the journey finishing at the Sydney GPO. In 1896 the League of Wheelmen organised a race from Goulburn to Ashfield which was won by H Hayes . The fastest time was Arthur Graeme in 7hrs 59'.

The Goulburn to Sydney became an annual event from 1902. The race was initially promoted by the Dunlop Rubber company who also promoted the Warrnambool to Melbourne Classic From 1902 until 1912 the fastest NSW rider was selected to appear for NSW in the Warrnambool to Melbourne Classic. The race was initially organised by the League of NSW Wheelmen for professional riders. Two races were held in 1906, on 22 September organised by the newly formed NSW Cyclists Association and on 24 November by the League of NSW Wheelmen.

There were calls for an amateur event however these did not come to fruition until 1913 when the Dunlop Rubber company cancelled the 1913 Goulburn classic. The NSW Cycling Union organised an amateur race as a selection race for the 1916 Summer Olympics.

The race was a handicap race from 1902 to 1993, with riders leaving Goulburn at different intervals. In 1945 the handicap system for the professional race changed to starting in 3 groups. The professional race was conducted as a massed start or a scratch race from 1951–1954 and 1970–1971, however the amateur event continued to be a handicap. From 1985 the professional and amateur races were replaced by a single open race. The open race was conducted as a handicap in 1985–1986 and 1988–1993. From 1994 the race was conducted as a scratch race.

Kerry Hoole set the fastest time on 5 occasions. 7 riders have set the fastest time on 3 occasions, Rodney Crowe, Fred Kerz, Richard "Fatty" Lamb, Robert Leach, Hubert Opperman, Ken Ross, Alfred Strom, Charles Winterbottom. No rider has won the event more than twice, with Richard "Fatty" Lamb, Kevin Massard, Hubert Opperman, Alf Overton, Mark Robinson, Eddy Salas, each achieving two wins.

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Wikipedia