1.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
2.
Victoria (Australia)
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Victoria is a state in southeast Australia. Victoria is Australias most densely populated state and its second-most populous state overall, most of its population is concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australias second-largest city. Prior to British European settlement, the area now constituting Victoria was inhabited by a number of Aboriginal peoples. With Great Britain having claimed the entire Australian continent east of the 135th meridian east in 1788, Victoria was included in the wider colony of New South Wales. The first settlement in the area occurred in 1803 at Sullivan Bay, and much of what is now Victoria was included in the Port Phillip District in 1836, Victoria was officially created as a separate colony in 1851, and achieved self-government in 1855. Politically, Victoria has 37 seats in the Australian House of Representatives and 12 seats in the Australian Senate, at state level, the Parliament of Victoria consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. Victoria is currently governed by the Labor Party, with Daniel Andrews the current Premier, the personal representative of the Queen of Australia in the state is the Governor of Victoria, currently Linda Dessau. Local government is concentrated in 79 municipal districts, including 33 cities, although a number of unincorporated areas still exist, Victorias total gross state product is ranked second in Australia, although Victoria is ranked fourth in terms of GSP per capita because of its limited mining activity. Culturally, Melbourne is home to a number of museums, art galleries and theatres and is described as the sporting capital of Australia. The Melbourne Cricket Ground is the largest stadium in Australia, and the host of the 1956 Summer Olympics, Victoria has eight public universities, with the oldest, the University of Melbourne, having been founded in 1853. Victoria, like Queensland, was named after Queen Victoria, who had been on the British throne for 14 years when the colony was established in 1851. The first British settlement in the later known as Victoria was established in October 1803 under Lieutenant-Governor David Collins at Sullivan Bay on Port Phillip. In the year 1826 Colonel Stewart, Captain S. Wright, fly and the brigs Dragon and Amity, took a number of convicts and a small force composed of detachments of the 3rd and 93rd regiments. Victorias next settlement was at Portland, on the south west coast of what is now Victoria, edward Henty settled Portland Bay in 1834. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman, who set up a base in Indented Head, from settlement the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, a separately administered part of New South Wales. Shortly after the now known as Geelong was surveyed by Assistant Surveyor W. H. Smythe. And in 1838 Geelong was officially declared a town, despite earlier white settlements dating back to 1826, days later, still in 1851 gold was discovered near Ballarat, and subsequently at Bendigo. Later discoveries occurred at sites across Victoria
3.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
4.
Cycle sport
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Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of racing including road bicycle racing, time trialling, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX. Non-racing cycling sports include cycling, cycle polo, freestyle BMX. The Union Cycliste Internationale is the governing body for cycling. The International Human Powered Vehicle Association is the body for human-powered vehicles that imposes far fewer restrictions on their design than does the UCI. The UltraMarathon Cycling Association is the body for many ultra-distance cycling races. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport, bicycle races are popular all over the world, especially in Europe. The countries most devoted to bicycle racing include Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, other countries with international standing include Australia, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and the United States. The first bicycle race is held to have been a 1,200 meter race on the 31 May 1868 at the Parc de Saint-Cloud. It was won by expatriate Englishman James Moore who rode a bicycle with iron tires. The machine is now on display at the museum in Ely, Cambridgeshire, road bicycle racing involve both team and individual competition, and races are contested in various ways. They range from the road race, criterium, and time trial to multi-stage events like the Tour de France. The races typically take place from spring through to autumn, many riders from the northern hemisphere spend the winter in countries such as Australia, to compete or train. The longest one-day road race sanctioned by USA Cycling is Lotoja which covers the 206 miles from Logan, Utah to Jackson, criteriums are races based on circuits typically less than a mile in length and sometimes run for a set time rather than a specific distance. Criteriums are the most popular form of racing in North America. In Belgium, kermesses are popular, single-day events of usually over 120 km, as well as road races in which all riders start simultaneously, individual time trial and team time trial events are also held on road-based courses. Track cycling encompasses races that take place on banked tracks or velodromes, events are quite diverse and can range from individual and team pursuits, two-man sprints, to various group and mass start races. Competitors use track bicycles which do not have brakes or freewheels, cyclo-cross originated as a sport for road racers during the off season, to vary their training during the cold months
5.
Road bicycle racing
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Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events. Professional racing has been most popular in Western Europe, centered historically on France, Spain, Italy, since the mid-1980s the sport has diversified with professional races now held on all continents of the globe. Semi-professional and amateur races are held in many countries. The sport is governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale, as well as the UCIs annual World Championships for men and women, the biggest event is the Tour de France, a three-week race that can attract over 500,000 roadside supporters a day. Road bicycle racing began as a sport in 1868. The first world championship was in 1893 and cycling has been part of the Olympic Games since the sequence started in Athens in 1896. Road racing in its modern form originated in the late 19th century, the sport was popular in the western European countries of France, Spain, Belgium, and Italy. Some of Europes earliest road bicycle races remain among the sports biggest events and these early races include Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Paris–Roubaix, the Tour de France, the Milan–San Remo and Giro di Lombardia, the Giro dItalia, the Volta a Catalunya, and the Tour of Flanders. They provided a template for other races around the world, while the sport has spread throughout the world, these historic races remain the most prestigious for a cyclist to win. Single-day race distances may be as long as 150 miles, races over short circuits, often in town or city centres, are known as criteriums. Individual time trial is an event in which cyclists race alone against the clock on flat or rolling terrain, a team time trial, including two-man team time trial, is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock. In both team and individual time trials, the start the race at different times so that each start is fair. Race distances vary from a few km to between approximately 20 miles and 60 miles, stage races consist of several races, or stages, ridden consecutively. The competitor with the lowest cumulative time to all stages is declared the overall, or general classification. Stage races may also have other classifications and awards, such as stage winners, the points classification winner. A stage race can also be a series of road races, the stage winner is the first person to cross the finish line that day or the time trial rider with the lowest time on the course. The overall winner of a race is the rider who takes the lowest aggregate time to complete all stages
6.
Warrnambool
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Warrnambool is a regional centre and former port city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At June 2015, Warrnambool had an urban population of 33,979. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool marks the end of the Great Ocean Road. It has been referred to as the Albany of the East, the word Warrnambool originates from the local Indigenous Australian name for a nearby volcanic cone. It is interpreted to mean many things including land between two rivers, two swamps or ample water, the ships provenance has been variously attributed to France, China, Spain and Portugal. There is no evidence to suggest that it ever existed. This exploration was followed by that of the English navigator Matthew Flinders in the Investigator, and the French explorer Nicholas Baudin, the area was frequented by whalers early in the 19th century. The first settlers arrived in the 1840s in the Lady Bay area, the town was surveyed in 1846 and established soon after, the Post Office opening on 1 January 1849. During the Victorian Gold Rush, Warrnambool became an important port and grew quickly in the 1850s and it was gazetted as a municipality in 1855, and became a borough in 1863. Warrnambool was declared a town in 1883, and a city in 1918, Post Offices opened at Warrnambool South in 1937, Warrnambool East in 1946, and Warrnambool North in 1947. Climate Warrnambool has a temperate climate. Summers are slightly cooler than in Melbourne, while winters are slightly warmer, on average, rainfall is greater than in most of Victoria. The original City of Warrnambool was a 4x8 grid, with boundaries of Lava Street, Japan Street, Merri Street, in the nineteenth century, it was intended that Fairy Street – with its proximity to the Warrnambool Railway Station – would be the main street of Warrnambool. However, Liebig Street has since become the street of the central business district. The Warrnambool CBD is particularly notable for its number of roundabouts, during the end of June and the start of July every year, Warrnambool is the home to the childrens festival Fun4Kids. It is held next to the Lighthouse Theatre in the CBD, wunta Fiesta, a festival held in Warrnambool over the first weekend of February annually, is one of south-west Victorias major community festivals. It incorporates a range of entertainment for all ages. The Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum is in Warrnambool built on Flagstaff Hill that also holds the original lighthouses and its most prized item in its collection is the Minton peacock salvaged from the Loch Ard
7.
Melbourne
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Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in Australia and Oceania. The name Melbourne refers to an urban agglomeration spanning 9,900 km2, the metropolis is located on the large natural bay of Port Phillip and expands into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon mountain ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. It has a population of 4,641,636 as of 2016, and its inhabitants are called Melburnians. Founded by free settlers from the British Crown colony of Van Diemens Land on 30 August 1835, in what was then the colony of New South Wales, it was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837. It was named Melbourne by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, in honour of the British Prime Minister of the day, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. It was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria, to whom Lord Melbourne was close, in 1847, during the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the worlds largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as the interim seat of government until 1927. It is a financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region. It is recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature and a centre for street art, music. It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the main passenger airport serving the metropolis and the state is Melbourne Airport, the second busiest in Australia. The Port of Melbourne is Australias busiest seaport for containerised and general cargo, Melbourne has an extensive transport network. The main metropolitan train terminus is Flinders Street Station, and the regional train. Melbourne is also home to Australias most extensive network and has the worlds largest urban tram network. Before the arrival of settlers, humans had occupied the area for an estimated 31,000 to 40,000 years. At the time of European settlement, it was inhabited by under 2000 hunter-gatherers from three indigenous tribes, the Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung and Wathaurong. The area was an important meeting place for the clans of the Kulin nation alliance and it would be 30 years before another settlement was attempted. Batman selected a site on the bank of the Yarra River. Batman then returned to Launceston in Tasmania, in early August 1835 a different group of settlers, including John Pascoe Fawkner, left Launceston on the ship Enterprize
8.
Princes Highway
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The Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The highway follows the coastline for most of its length, and thus quite an indirect. Because of the nature and lower traffic volumes over much of its length. Sections of the Princes Highway have different route allocations, the gazetted route of the Princes Highway differs from the route of State Route 60. The gazetted route was designated State Route 60 for its length, the section of the Princes Highway between West Helensburgh and Bulli Tops the original coastal route between Sydney and Wollongong, first used in 1843. From Bulli Tops this route continued south along todays Mount Ousley Road as far south as Mount Keira Road and this route replaced the inland route from Sydney via Liverpool, Campbelltown, Appin to Bulli Tops. The Princes Highway as a named route came into being when pre-existing roads were renamed ‘Princes Highway’ after the visit to Australia in 1920 of the Prince of Wales. The original submissions in January 1920 were in order for the Prince to have the opportunity during his visit to make the trip from Melbourne to Sydney overland along the route, different routes were considered, including the inland route via Yass. This idea never came to fruition, due partly to the amount of time. The Prince did, however, give his permission for the naming, the highway had opening ceremonies in both New South Wales and Victoria during 1920. The first section of road from Melbourne was opened on 10 August in Warragul, the road from Sydney was opened on 19 October in Bulli, by the NSW Minister for Local Government, Thomas Mutch. The approval was given by the Victorian executive to extend the highway west from Melbourne through Geelong, Camperdown, Warrnambool, the roads were renamed by the South Australian government from Adelaide east to the South Australian border in February 1922. By 1928, the route went through Mount Barker and Wistow to Lanhorne Creek, by 1935, the Princes Highway passed through Nairne and Kanmantoo, Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend. This road was superseded by the South Eastern Freeway, Swanport Bridge, in 1942, as part of wartime defence measures, a road was built from Mount Keira Road to Fairy Meadow. This route forms part of Mount Ousley Road, city Road in fact forms the first section of the highway, and becomes King Street, Newtown, also part of the Princes Highway. Where King Street ends at Sydney Park Road, the Princes Highway continues in its own right, the only major engineering structures along its route are the twin Tom Uglys Bridge across Georges River. The northbound bridge is of steel construction, opened in 1929, whilst the southbound bridge is of prestressed concrete girders. It runs through Sydneys southern suburbs, via Kogarah, Sutherland, South of Waterfall the highway is paralleled by the 55-kilometre Princes Motorway to the top of Bulli Pass outside the city of Wollongong, which carries the majority of traffic
9.
Union Cycliste Internationale
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The Union Cycliste Internationale, commonly known by the acronym UCI, is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland, the UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces disciplinary rules, such as in matters of doping. It also oversees the World Championships, UCI was founded in 1900 in Paris by the national cycling sports organisations of Belgium, the United States, France, Italy, and Switzerland. Britain found itself outflanked and it was not able to join the UCI – under the conditions the UCI had imposed – until 1903, there were originally 30 countries affiliated to the union. They did not have voting power and some had no vote at all. Votes were distributed by the number of tracks, or velodromes, France had 18 votes, the highest number, and Germany and Italy 14 each. Britain had eight, a number the writer Bill Mills said was acquired by including many rather doubtful grass tracks, in 1965, under the pressure of the IOC, the UCI created two subsidiary bodies, the International Amateur Cycling Federation and the International Professional Cycling Federation. The UCI assumed a role coordinating both bodies, the FIAC was based in Rome, the FICP in Luxembourg, and the UCI in Geneva. The FIAC was the bigger of the two organisations, with 127 member federations across all five continents and it was dominated by the countries of the Eastern bloc which were amateur. The FIAC arranged representation of cycling at the Olympic Games, in 1992, the UCI reunified the FIAC and FICP, and merged them back into the UCI. The combined organisation then relocated to Aigle, close to the IOC in Lausanne, in 2004, the UCI constructed a 200-metre velodrome at the new World Cycling Centre adjacent to its headquarters. In September 2007 the UCI announced that it had decided to award ProTour status for the first time ever to an event outside of Europe, the announcement followed negotiations between UCI President Pat McQuaid and South Australian Premier Mike Rann. In 2013 Tracey Gaudry became the first woman appointed as president of the UCI. The UCI organises cyclings world championships, administration of which it gives to member nations, the first championships were on the road and on the track. They were allocated originally to member nations in turn, on condition the country was deemed competent, a nation given a championship or series of championships was required to pay the UCI30 per cent of ticket receipts from the track and 10 per cent from the road. Of this, the UCI kept 30 per cent and gave the rest to competing nations in proportion to the number of events in which it competed, the highest gate money in this pre-war era was 600000 francs in Paris in 1903. There were originally five championships, amateur and professional sprint, amateur and professional road race, continental European organisers generally preferred massed races on circuits, fenced throughout or along the finish to charge for entry. The original records were on the track, unpaced, human-paced and they were promoted for three classes of bicycle, solos, tandems and unusual machines such as what are now known as recumbents, on which the rider lies horizontal
10.
Werribee, Victoria
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Werribee is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,32 km south-west of Melbournes Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Wyndham, at the 2011 Census, Werribee had a population of 37,737. Werribee is situated on the Werribee River, approximately halfway between Melbourne and Geelong, on the Princes Highway and it is the administrative centre of the City of Wyndham Local Government Area and is the Citys most populous centre. Werribee is part of the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area and is included in the capitals population statistical division, since the 1990s the suburb has experienced rapid suburban growth into surrounding greenfield land, and becoming a commuter town in the Melbourne-Geelong growth corridor. Due to this urban sprawl Wyndham and its suburbs have merged into the Melbourne conurbation and it was established as an agricultural settlement in the 1850s, originally named Wyndham and was renamed Werribee in 1904. The name Werribee is a name meaning backbone or spine. It is thought that name was given as the shape of the Werribee River valley. Early leasing of pastures was led by members of John Batmans Port Phillip Association, a rural township began in the early 1850s. The name derived from a suggestion by the owner of a village inn, Elliott Armstrong. The Post Office opened on 12 January 1858 as Wyndham and was renamed Werribee in 1904. However, its adjacent river was called the Werribee River, and the name was later changed to Werribee in 1884. Werribee at this time was popular for development. Thomas Chirnside, a person famous in this area today, was attracted to the open plains suitability for agricultural uses. By 1863 he controlled more than 280 square kilometres around Werribee, Chirnside bought other smaller holdings of land at this time. The town grew steadily, helped by a line from Melbourne to Geelong. The Shire was huge, extending from the suburbs of Melbourne to Little River to the northward town of Melton. Thomas Chirnside committed suicide in 1887 and he was found dead in the laundry at Werribee Park with a shotgun lying beside him. His brother Andrew died three years later, and the property was now divided between Andrews two sons, a new mansion was built, called The Manor
11.
Geelong
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Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia,75 kilometres south-west of the state capital, Melbourne. It is the second largest Victorian city, with an urban population of 191,440 as at June 2016. Geelong runs from the plains of Lara in the north to the hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with Corio Bay to the east. Geelong is the centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality. Geelong was named in 1827, with the derived from the local Wathaurong Aboriginal name for the region, Jillong. The area was first surveyed in 1838, three weeks after Melbourne, the post office was open by June 1840. The first woolstore was erected in this period and it became the port for the industry of the Western District. During the gold rush, Geelong experienced a boom as the main port to the rich goldfields of the Ballarat district. The city then diversified into manufacturing, and during the 1860s, it one of the largest manufacturing centres in Australia with its wool mills, ropeworks. Population increases over the last decade were due to growth in service industries, redevelopment of the inner city has occurred since the 1990s, as well as gentrification of inner suburbs, and currently has a population growth rate higher than the national average. It is known for being home to the Geelong Football Club, today, Geelong stands as an emerging health, education and advanced manufacturing hub. The area of Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula was originally occupied by the Wathaurong Indigenous Australian tribe, the first nonindigenous person recorded as visiting the region was Lt. John Murray, who commanded the brig HMS Lady Nelson. After anchoring outside Port Phillip Heads, on 1 February 1802, led by John Bowen, they explored the immediate area, returning to the Lady Nelson on 4 February. On reporting favourable findings, the Lady Nelson entered Port Phillip on 14 February, during this time, Murray explored the Geelong area and, whilst on the far side of the bay, claimed the entire area for Britain. He named the bay Port King, after Philip Gidley King, Governor King later renamed the bay Port Phillip after the first governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip. Arriving not long after Murray was Matthew Flinders, who entered Port Phillip on 27 April 1802, in October of the same year, the HMS Calcutta led by Lieutenant Colonel David Collins arrived in the bay to establish the Sullivan Bay penal colony. Collins was dissatisfied with the chosen, and sent a small party led by First Lieutenant J. H. Tuckey to investigate alternate sites. The party spent 22 October to 27 October on the shore of Corio Bay
12.
Australian National Road Race Championships
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The Australian National Road Race Championships, are held annually with an event for each category of rider, Men, Women & under 23 riders. The event also includes the Australian National Time Trial Championships since 2002, the Australian Championships were officially known as the Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Championships from 1999 to 2010, taking the name of their main sponsor. This changed to the Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships from 2011, the under 23 championships were introduced in 2001. Note that these results do not currently include the senior and junior amateur road race championships that were prior to the open era. The champions stripes can be combined into a sponsored riders team kit design for this purpose, from 1901 to 1939 the title of long distance road champion of Australia was awarded to the fastest time in the Warrnambool to Melbourne Classic over 165 miles. Riders attended from all over Australia and New Zealand, from 1902 the fastest NSW rider in the Goulburn to Sydney Classic was selected to appear for NSW. In 1927 the Warrnambool to Melbourne was replaced by the Dunlop Grand Prix, in 1934 the Warrnambool to Melbourne was again replaced by a stage race, the Centenary 1000, a 1,102 miles race over seven stages. From 1947 to 1949 the title of long distance road champion of Australia was awarded at a sprint point 150 miles into the Warrnambool to Melbourne Classic, in 1950 the first separate event was held at Cronulla, NSW. The womens event was first held in 1978
13.
Goulburn to Sydney Classic
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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 event from 1902. The race was 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 race from 1902 to 1993, with riders leaving Goulburn at different intervals. In 1945 the handicap system for the race changed to starting in 3 groups. The professional race was conducted as a start or a scratch race from 1951-1954 and 1970-1971. From 1985 the professional and amateur races were replaced by an 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, in 1939 no race was held because the Police Department placed a ban on bicycle racing on main roads in NSW. The race was banned by the Police in 1948 to 1950 In 2013 the teams insisted upon a full rolling road closure. The Police would not approve a rolling road closure of the Hume Highway and would only approve a single lane rolling road closure, alternate roads were considered however no agreement could be reached and the event was cancelled. Historically, the started in Goulburn in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Littlechild, in winning the 1902 race, beat Graeme’s 1896 race record to Ashfield, the amateur record was last set at 5hrs 474 in 1937 by Charles Winterbottom
14.
Fitzroy, Victoria
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Fitzroy is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia,3 km north-east of Melbournes Central Business District in the local government area of the City of Yarra. At the 2011 Census, Fitzroy had a population of 9,430, planned as Melbournes first suburb, it was later also one of the citys first areas to gain municipal status. It occupies Melbournes smallest and most densely populated area, just 100 ha. Fitzroy has long associations with the class and is currently inhabited by a wide variety of socio-economic groups. It is known throughout Australia for its art and music scene and culture of bohemianism and its commercial heart is Brunswick Street, which is one of Melbournes major retail, eating, and nightlife strips. It has undergone waves of urban renewal and gentrification since the 1950s. In response to past planning practices, much of the suburb is now a historic precinct, with many individual buildings. Its built environment is diverse and features some of the finest examples of Victorian era architecture in Melbourne and it was named after Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, the Governor of New South Wales from 1846 to 1855. It is bordered by Alexandra Parade, Victoria Parade, Smith Street, Fitzroy was Melbournes first suburb, created in 1839 when the area between Melbourne and Alexandra Parade was subdivided into vacant lots and offered for sale. Newtown was later renamed Collingwood, and the now called Fitzroy was made a ward of the Melbourne City Council. On 9 September 1858, Fitzroy became a municipality in its own right, the council election took place two days later and the first councilors were, Thomas Rae, George Symons, Edward Langton, Henry Groom, Benjamin Bell, Edwin Bennett and Thomas Hargreave. The first council meeting, held after the declaration of election, was at the Exchange Hotel, George Street, a notable local entrepreneur was Macpherson Robertson, whose confectionery factories engulfed several blocks and stand as heritage landmarks today. The establishment of the Housing Commission of Victoria in 1938 saw swathes of new residences being constructed in Melbournes outer suburbs, the Housing Commission would build two public housing estates in Fitzroy in the 1960s, one in Hanover Street and one at the southern end of Brunswick Street. Before World War I, Fitzroy was a neighbourhood, with a concentration of political radicals already living there. Postwar immigration into the suburb resulted in the area becoming socially diverse, many working-class Chinese immigrants settled in Fitzroy due to its proximity to Chinatown. Like other inner-city suburbs of Melbourne, Fitzroy underwent a process of gentrification during the 1980s and 1990s, the areas manufacturing and warehouse sites were converted into apartments, and the corresponding rising rents in Fitzroy saw many of the areas residents move to Northcote and Brunswick. In June 1994, the City of Yarra was created, by combining the Cities of Fitzroy, Collingwood and Richmond. It is laid out in grid plan and is characterised by a tightly spaced rectangular grid of medium-sized streets, with many of its narrow streets
15.
Dunlop Grand Prix
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The Dunlop Grand Prix was, in 1927, the biggest cycling race in the British Empire and the richest race in the world. It was organised by the Dunlop Rubber Company which had a history of organising bicycle races, including the Warrnambool to Melbourne, Colac to Melbourne. As a result of the Dunlop Grand Prix, the Warrnambool was not held in 1927 however the Colac and Goulburn races were. The race was held in four stages from the 14–19 November 1927, there was a dispute between the League of Victorian Wheelmen and Melbourne Carnivals Ltd which threatened the participation of a number of cyclists, including Hubert Opperman. The dispute however was resolved a month before the event, the featured riders, in addition to Opperman were Percy Osborn, Jack Beasley, then holder of the 100 miles world’s record, H Moody, NSW and Harry Watson from New Zealand. Also competing were the winners of the Warrnambool from 1926, Les Einsiedel,1925 EE Williamson, the fastest riders from the Goulburn to Sydney were also competing, with Ken Ross from 1926 and RJ Cruise from 1925. The riders started together on the first 3 stages however on the stage the riders left according to their accumulated time gains. In addition to the prize, there was also a sealed handicap. The late 20s and early 30s were an era of transition in relation to bicycle equipment, areas of controversy were the use of variable gears and two sprocket wheels, single tyres, the use of butterfly or wing nuts and the provision of outside assistance. The Dunlop Grand Prix permitted variable gears but prohibited butterfly or wing nuts, the riders were required to repair their own bikes during the stage, were not able to change bicycles unless it was bona fide damaged and no spare parts or other assistance were permitted. Similarly the riders were not permitted to accept food or drink other than from officials at feeding stations or procured by rider from established store, while the pre race reports spoke of a limit of 110 riders,59 riders faced the starter, and 52 finished. Opperman was in the lead from Healesville for the hardest climb of the stage, Einsiedel caught Opperman on the downhill run from Narbethong to Buxton. Opperman dropped Einsiedel at Alexandra while Watson overtook Einsiedel at Benalla, the stage was won by Opperman in convincing style,50 minutes in front of the expected time and with a 15-minute lead over second placed Watson. The time limit for the stage was 12h 35 and 35 riders were within the time, the last rider in was N Coates who walked the last 5 miles so he could finish, albeit 4 hours after Opperman,1 hour 40 minutes outside the time limit. It appears the time limit was not enforced however as all 52 finishers were reported as starting stage 2,52 riders faced the started for Stage 2 on Wednesday 16 November 1927 for the shortest stage of the race covering a distance of 150.5 miles. The time limit for the stage was 10h 55 Opperman punctured after winning the sprint at Shepparton and was 8 minutes behind the leader Moody at Rushworth with 50 miles left in the stage. Despite riding into a hot north west wind, Opperman caught Moody between Wanalta and Colbinabbin, before dropping him 8 miles from Bendigo and gaining a further 5 minutes lead on Moody by the finish. Osborn recovered from his disappointing 22nd in stage 1 to finish 3rd a further 7 minutes back, Stage 3 was held on Thursday 17 November 1927, covering 192 miles with a time limit for the stage of 12h 15
16.
Centenary 1000
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The Centenary 1000 cycling race was a one-week road bicycle race over seven stages covering 1,102 miles. The race was run in 1934 as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of Victoria, the race attracted the top riders from Australia and New Zealand as well as Frenchmen Paul Chocque and Fernand Mithouard and Italian Nino Borsari. The Australian riders included Opperman, Richard Fatty Lamb, Ossie Nicholson, Hefty Stuart, Ern Milliken, Horrie Marshall, also competing were riders who would come to prominence in the following years, including Alan Angus, Dean Toseland, Clinton Beasley and Bill Moritz. The only notable Australian absentee was Frankie Thomas who had suspended for 18 months. Nicholson had been suspended for 12 months for interfering with a making a record attempt but was able to have the suspension lifted in time to ride. Efforts were made to also have Thomas’ suspension lifted, but to no avail, the New Zealand riders were Harry Watson, who had finished 2nd in the 1927 Dunlop Grand Prix, L W Hill and Alby Ralston. The major races in Australia at the time were conducted as handicap races, including the Warrnambool to Melbourne, there was a push for the race to be run on “continental lines, that is as a scratch race. The compromise was a handicap, with 30 riders graded on scratch. By way of comparison the handicaps for the 1933 Warrnambool to Melbourne had 21 handicaps of between 10 and 70 minutes. The championship title was decided on time with bonus time deductions on each stage of 130 for the fastest,100 for the second fastest and 030 for the third fastest. The handicap title was to be determined by a point system, with 130 points for first through to 30 for 100th for most stages. The grade handicaps varied slightly from stage to stage as follows, When the event was announced in April 1934, the prizes grew steadily as the date approached. There were small prizes for each stage together with prizes for town sprints, the scratch riders were even less likely to beat the handicap to win the town sprints. The richest stage was the fifth, with a pool of £140 on offer for the ride from Wangaratta to Omeo which included the climbs of Mt Buffalo, Mt St Bernard. One condition of the race was that cycle traders were prohibited from offering a bonus or other inducement to competitors in the event of winning the race on his machine. It is not clear what this condition was meant to achieve, the size of the championship prize was at the instigation of Sidney Myer who gave a gold cup valued at 100 guineas to go with the £500 provided by the Centenary Council. Myer also donated £500 for the handicap winner, Stage 1 on Saturday 20 October 1934 was a fresh take on the traditional Warrnambool route of 165 miles being run in reverse direction from Melbourne to Warrnambool for only the second time. 107 riders started the race and all of them made it through to Warrnambool, Mithouard and Chocque both punctured, the later twice and Chocque was then involved in a collision before coming into Camperdown wrecking his bicycle which was replaced
17.
Hubert Opperman
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Hubert rode a bicycle from the age of eight until his 90th birthday, when his wife Mavys, fearing for his health and safety, forced him to stop. His stamina and endurance in cycling earned Opperman the status of one of the greatest Australian sportsmen, Opperman was born in Rochester, Victoria in 1904 of British-German descent. His father, Adolphus Samuel Ferdinand Oppermann, had worked as a butcher, miner, timber-cutter, Hubert, the eldest of five children, learned as a child to plough with six horses and to ride bareback. He attended several schools and delivered Post Office telegrams by bicycle, sometime following Huberts birth, his parents moved to Western Australia, along with his uncle Albert Oppermann and his fathers cousins August, Emil and Hugo Oppermann. Bruce also became a competitive cyclist, and won several races in Victoria. It is not known when, or why, Hubert anglicised his surname and he came third in a cycling race at 17 in 1921. The prize was a bike by Malvern Star Cycles, a cycle shop in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern. The proprietor, Bruce Small, was so impressed he offered Opperman a role in the business, Opperman is the only rider to have won the Australian national road race title four times, in 1924,1926,1927 and 1929. The 1924,1926 and 1929 titles were awarded for winning the Blue Riband for fastest time in the Warrnambool to Melbourne Classic. In 1927 the Warrnambool to Melbourne was not run and the title was won by Opperman as the winner of the Dunlop Grand Prix, in the Goulburn to Sydney Classic Opperman was first and fastest in 1924 and 1929 and was fastest in 1930 setting a new race record. The championship was based solely on time, although there was also a race with riders divided into 4 grades. The race was run in as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of Victoria, Opperman had injured his knee in a fall in stage 4 near Wangaratta, but despite this he was still well placed at 3rd in the championship. He injured his knee again in a fall whilst descending from Mount Hotham, Opperman also cut his hand requiring stitches, which he refused until after the stage. He battled on to Sale, losing 27 minutes on the stage to Lamb and he attempted to finish the race, but was forced to abandon at Traralgon, said to be the first time Oppy had retired from a race. The Melbourne Herald and The Sporting Globe in Australia and The Sun in New Zealand started a fund in late 1927 to pay for an Australasia team to the Tour de France. Opperman went to Europe in April 1928 with Harry Watson of New Zealand and Ernie Bainbridge and he went to the six-day race at the Velodrome dHiver in Paris, where he met an Australian participant, Reggie McNamara. While the others looked on it more as a trip in which to collect a few souvenirs to take home and his arrival in France had been announced with some scepticism, Un beau mentir qui vient de loin is a French saying. His outstanding wins in Australia did not mean anything to the French riders, whom did he beat over there, anyway
18.
Russell Mockridge
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Russell Mockridge was a racing cyclist from Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He died during a race, in collision with a bus, Mockridge started in 1946 by winning his first race of 40 km with Geelong Amateur Cycling Club. For his upper-class accent he was dubbed Little Lord Fauntleroy, and he became described as Australia’s greatest all-round cyclist for all time. His ride in the 1948 Summer Olympics road race in London was ruined by two punctures and his team was eliminated in the quarter-final of the 4000 m team pursuit and he represented Australia at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland. He took gold in the 1000 m sprint and the 1000m time trial and his humiliation of the professionals led to amateur riders being barred for many years. Later that year he won Manchester Wheelers Club Muratti Cup again beating Reg Harris, selection for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki was in doubt as he refused to sign the Australian Olympic Federation fidelity bond, which demanded he remain amateur for two years after the Games. A great former cyclist, Hubert Opperman, then Federal parliamentarian for Geelong, Mockridge won gold medals in the tandem event with Lionel Cox, and in the 1000 m time trial. He turned professional a year later with success in Europe and Australia and he teamed with Sid Patterson and Roger Arnold to win the Paris six-day race in 1955. Mockridge was one of 60 of 150 entrants to finish the 1955 Tour de France and he won 12 consecutive Australian championships. He won the Australian national road title in 1956,1957 and 1958. In 1958, at 30, he was killed by a bus in Melbourne at the Dandenong Rd and Clayton Rd intersection, Mockridge was married and had a daughter, Melinda. In 2015, he was an inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductee, archived from the original on 18 December 2005
Calder, AndrewAndrew Calder (NZ)
Wüst, MarcelMarcel Wüst (GER)
Daniel Schnider (SUI)
Bart Heirweg (BEL)
Ljungblad, JonasJonas Ljungblad (SWE)
Goesinnen, FlorisFloris Goesinnen (NED)