Dates announced for 2023 Federation University Road National Championships

The City of Ballarat is thrilled to announce the grand return of the Federation University Road National Championships for 2023. 

The Championships will be held on a slightly altered timeframe to previous years, with the Sturt Street criteriums on Friday 6 January to open the five-day cycling event. 

The event will then return to Buninyong on the weekend of January 7-8 for the road races, before venturing out to Mt Helen and Federation University for the time trials on Monday and Tuesday, January 9-10. 

With just 100 days left until the event starts, City of Ballarat mayor Cr Daniel Moloney said the city is thrilled to be able to host the prestigious event for the 17th consecutive year.  

“The Federation University Road National Championships is a highlight on Ballarat’s calendar and one of the best showcases of our beautiful city,” Cr Moloney said. 

“It delivers economic benefits to Ballarat and highlights our ability to host world-class sporting events.   

“Ballarat is a cycling city and hosting events of this calibre helps cement our position as the home of cycling in Australia.  

“We can’t wait to see Sturt Street lined with crowds for the criteriums to open the incredible event.” 

In addition to bringing Australia’s best elite cyclists to Ballarat, there will also be a range of events for community, junior, club and para-cyclists throughout the five days. 

AusCycling CEO Marne Fechner said the Road Nationals would be an amazing opportunity for Australian cycling fans to see our current and emerging stars in action.  

“2022 has been an exceptional year for Australian cycling. Our road riders have had outstanding results on the world stage, spearheaded by Jai (Hindley) with his Giro d’Italia victory, and a hugely successful Commonwealth Games campaign with Georgia Baker, Grace Brown and Rohan Dennis all winning gold medals on the road.  

“We’ve just had the world’s best cyclists in Australia for the UCI Road World Championships and the home crowd support for our Aussie athletes was incredible. It really lifted the team to some outstanding results, culminating with Michael Matthews’ stunning podium finish in the elite men’s road race. We can’t wait to see many of these riders race just as fiercely for the 2023 national titles in Ballarat in three months.” 

2022 elite men’s road race champion, Luke Plapp of Victoria, is eager to return to Ballarat to defend his national title.  

“I’m looking forward to getting back down to Buninyong and Ballarat for the 2023 RoadNats,” he said.  

“I’m really excited to defend my jersey. I can’t wait for the summer of cycling!” 

EVENT SCHEDULE 

• Friday 6 January - Criteriums in Sturt Street, Ballarat (Elite/U19/U23 Men and Women/Club Teams) 
• Saturday 7 January - Road races in Buninyong (U19 Men and Women, U23 Men, Gran Fondo (participation) 
• Sunday 8 January - Road races in Buninyong (Para-cycling and Intellectually Impaired/ U23 and Elite Women, Elite Men) 
• Monday 9 January - Time trials in Federation University, Mt Helen (U19 Men and Women/Club Teams 
• Tuesday 10 January - Time trials in Federation University, Mt Helen (U23 and Elite Men and Women/ Para-cycling and Intellectually Impaired/Masters) 

For more information, visit roadnationals.org.au