The route for the 2017 Herald Sun Tour has been made official with race director John Trevorrow telling Cyclingnews it is the "toughest course in the recent history of the race since it was revamped".
For the second year running, Australia's oldest stage race has secured Chris Froome and Team Sky while Orica-BikeExchange will be led by Colombian Esteban Chaves on his debut at the race. The confirmation of the duo helped Trevorrow craft the 2017 parcours which will feature the challenging climb to Falls Creek and a tough final day circuit around Kinglake to the north of Melbourne.
Once again the race starts with a 2.1km prologue along the banks of the Yarra River in Southbank but it is stage 1 from Wangaratta to Falls Creek, which is sure to see the first major shake-up in the overall standings and play a pivotal role in deciding the 2017 winner.
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"Once we decided to go up the high country it was always going to be a fairly tough course but once I knew for sure that we had Chris Froome and Esteban Chaves, we had to give them a platform to do what they are famous for. So that's why we brought the Falls Creek finish into it," Trevorrow told Cyclingnews once the route for the 64th edition of the race was announced in Melbourne.
"I don't believe that after the first stage to Falls Creek there will only be two bike riders in it. It is a quality field and there are some really good climbers in there who will be within cooee of them. They won't be miles in front. It is a long climb at 20km but it is not a steep climb. If you are going to pick any of the Australian mountains, Falls would be the one that is not quite as tough as Hotham or something, Especially as we are finishing at the gate which is 3.8km from the summit which is the steep part at the end. I think it makes it a bit more reasonable for that time of the year. We don't want it to be all over on day one and I don't believe it will be."
The Willunga Hill queen stage at the Tour Down Under has been the key 'climbing' stage of the Australia summer in recent years. The Falls Creek stage will rival the South Australian climb in 2017 for a showdown of the climbers, but a diplomatic Trevorrow doesn't believe a fair comparison can be made between the two stages.
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