The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race , a classic that will close the Australian calendar, will take place on Sunday night.
Weather conditions appear to have improved and the race should go ahead as planned following the cancellation of the Surf Coast Classic.

The route is the usual one, starting and finishing in Geelong, 182.3 km long and featuring the Challambra Crescent climb as the key point of the race: the riders will have to tackle the 1.3 km climb at an 8% gradient four times, the last time with the summit 9.5 km from the finish.

A race therefore dedicated to fast and resistant runners on the climbs, but watch out for surprise attacks in the final stages on the flat like last year with Schmid .

Among the favourites we can undoubtedly mention Brennan and Andresen , who appeared to be in good form Down Under, especially the Dane, and very suited to the route.
Another name that could be used is Pithie , who is in great form at the start of 2026. Also worth keeping an eye on at Red Bull is FIsher - Black , who could be very dangerous in the event of a tight sprint.

Watson and Tesfation will be more than just two outsiders given their form Down Under, as will Kron , who seems reborn after two very difficult years.
There are some more doubts regarding Strong , who has always placed in this race, but has been disappointing in his first outings of the season.

If a compact group were to reach the finish, the chances of success would be on the side of Welsford, Van Poppel and Gate, while there seems to be no room in this race for riders who are strong on climbs but lack any particular momentum, like Romo, Adam Yates and Buitrago.