John Trevorrow pulled off a coup in 2016, attracting Team Sky and Chris Froome to the Jayco Herald Sun Tour where the three-time Tour de France winner took the overall win with a storming ride up Arthurs Seat to conclude the race. For Trevorrow, having Froome at the Herald Sun Tour raised the profile of the race and provided a base for the Briton to successfully defend his Tour title in July.
Froome recently told Cyclingnews that "doing the Sun Tour worked well" and that he could also add the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race to an Australian racing programme to start his 2017 season as he targets a fourth Tour victory.
The route, teams, and riders for the 2017 edition of the Herald Sun Tour will be announced in just a few weeks along with confirmation of Froome's appearance or non-appearance. Ahead of the announcement for the 64th edition of the race, Cyclingnews spoke with race director Trevorrow to find out what to expect at the UCI 2.1 race to be held 1-5 February.
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"I can't tell you too much as the route isn't finalised but we are very close to finalising it," a tight-lipped Trevorrow told Cyclingnews. "We can start talking about the route when we have it signed it off with councils. The major partner of the Herald Sun Tour is the Victorian state government, which is Tourism Victoria, so they have a lot to do with which areas the race goes to but not the exact route. This year's race was such an exciting race and a wonderful route. I've tried to replicate that and I am pretty happy with how it is going and how it is looking in terms of providing the same platform for the guys to do what they do."
The 2016 edition of the race saw Team Sky rip it to pieces on stage 1 into Healesville with Peter Kennaugh and Chris Froome finishing one-two, 17 seconds ahead of the peloton. While the end result was Sky stamping its authority on the race and ending almost every other rider's opportunity for the race win, Trevorrow explains that more than any other stage, it provided serious food for thought in the planning process for 2017.
"What really worked this year was the first day and I really want to try and replicate that. The stage in Healesville turned out to be a ripper with Chris Froome and Peter Kennaugh getting away and set the scene for the next four days. You don't want to make the race that hard that it is over on the first day but you want it to be a bike race. I think we are replicating that," he said.
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