ORGANISERS of Australia’s most prestigious and oldest cycling stage race have announced the event will not proceed in 2021.
The men’s Jayco Herald Sun Tour and the women’s Lexus of Blackburn tour, which both featured a stage one finish in Shepparton in February, will be rescheduled to February 2022 due to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
Jayco Herald Sun Tour chairman, Tom Salom, said the decision was made after much consideration.
“As Australia’s oldest cycling stage race, we have not taken this decision lightly, however the high level of uncertainty created by the current COVID-19 environment in Victoria presents too many challenges to proceed with the 2021 events,” he said.
Mr Salom said while the decision was made with a heavy heart, the silver lining was that the delay would provide the time and resources to plan for a bigger and better tour in 2022.
He underlined the importance of the events continuing to support regional tourism in the future.
“It is critically important for both cycling and regional Victoria that we deliver a high quality Jayco Herald Sun Tour for years to come,” he said.
The Jayco Herald Sun Tour is held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event and is now held annually over five days in February.
