Herald Sun Tour

The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six day event and it is held annually in October. It is named after the Herald Sun, Melbourne's only daily tabloid newspaper. It was originally known as the "Sun Tour" after The Sun News-Pictorial, and changed its name when the Sun merged with the The Herald in 1990.

History

The first general classification winner was Keith Rowley, a Maffra sheep farmer, in a time of 42hr 57min 55sec. The first King of the Mountain and Sprint champion was Jack (John) McDonough from Coburg.

Australian cyclists dominated the first 30 editions of the race, before its status rose and began attacting overseas stars. By the year 2000 the race had shifted to October and Australia's cyclists racing in Europe began to compete in the race. The resulting rise in the event's standard saw the race become rated by the UCI for the first time in 2005.Several notable Australian cyclists have won the General classification including Baden Cooke in 2002, Neil Stephens in 1986, and Russell Mockridge in 1957.

The 2004 race was conducted from October 14 to 24, 2004 and involved 85 cyclists in seventeen teams of five. Thirteen stages were completed with a total distance of 1110.7km, 119 intermediate sprints and 37 hill climbs, including the two category one climbs of Mount Baw Baw and in the Otway Ranges. Swedish rider Jonas Ljungblad won the General classification in the time of 26hr 39min 55sec. Karl Menzies won the sprint classification and Phillip Thuaux won the Mountains classification.

Winners

* 1952 - Keith Rowley AUS
* 1953 - Basil Halsall AUS
* 1954 - Hec Sutherland AUS
* 1955 - Allan Geddes AUS
* 1956 - George Goodwin AUS
* 1957 - Russell Mockridge AUS
* 1958 - John Young AUS
* 1959 - Peter Panton AUS
* 1960 - Peter Panton AUS
* 1961 - John Young AUS
* 1962 - Bill Knevitt AUS
* 1963 - Bill Lawrie AUS
* 1964 - Barry Waddell AUS
* 1965 - Barry Waddell AUS
* 1966 - Barry Waddell AUS
* 1967 - Barry Waddell AUS
* 1968 - Barry Waddell AUS
* 1969 - Keith Oliver AUS
* 1970 - Trevor Williamson AUS
* 1971 - Graham McVilly AUS
* 1972 - Ken Evans AUS
* 1973 - Graham McVilly AUS
* 1974 - Graham McVilly AUS
* 1975 - John Trevorrow AUS
* 1976 - Peter Besanko AUS
* 1977 - John Trevorrow AUS
* 1978 - Terry Hammond AUS
* 1979 - John Trevorrow AUS
* 1980 - David Allan AUS
* 1981 - Clyde Sefton AUS
* 1982 - Terry Hammond AUS
* 1983 - Shane Sutton AUS
* 1984 - Gary Sutton AUS
* 1985 - Malcolm Elliott GBR
* 1986 - Neil Stephens AUS
* 1987 - Stefano Tomasini ITA
* 1988 - Adri van der Poel NED
* 1989 - Marcel Arntz NED
* 1990 - Udo Bölts GER
* 1991 - Michael Engleman USA
* 1992 - Bart Bowen USA
* 1993 - David Mann GBR
* 1994 - Christian Henn GER
* 1995 - Andy Bishop USA
* 1996 - Scott Moninger USA
* 1997 - Norman Alvis USA
* 1998 - Alessandro Pozzi ITA
* 1999 - Michael Blaudzun DNK
* 2000 - Eugen Wacker KGZ
* 2001 - Peter Wrolich AUT
* 2002 - Baden Cooke AUS
* 2003 - Tim Johnson USA
* 2004 - Jonas Ljungblad SWE
* 2005 - Simon Gerrans AUS
* 2006 - Simon Gerrans AUS
* 2007 - Matthew Wilson AUS

References

* [http://www.heraldsuntour.com.au/ Official website]
* [http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2004/oct04/suntour04/ Herald Sun Tour 2004 Cycling results]

Links

* [http://savingsloans.typepad.com/cycling_herald_sun_tour/ Savings & Loans Cycling Team 2006 Herald Sun Tour Blog]