But long after the final rainbow jersey is awarded and the national teams have departed, the city in New South Wales will continue reaping the benefits from the eight-day event. Awarded the UCI Bike City Label in 2021, Wollongong, in the Illawarra region, has a strong Legacy Plan to ensure the UCI Road World Championships do not simply become a distant memory.
Samara Sheppard, Wollongong Cycling Ambassador and UCI Bike City Coordinator at Destination Wollongong explains that it is all part of a move to grow a positive cycling culture within the community. She points to specific projects of the Legacy Plan such as:
Ride Nation: AusCycling’s pilot scheme aiming to put 10,000 children through cycling education programmes. As part of this, its Bike Immersion days enable students to participate in on and off bike activities with a focus on inclusion, fun games and skill acquisition.
Bike Friendly Business Programme: launched this year, this has seen local businesses, shops and cafés get behind the local cycling community by providing services such as bike parking, accessibility, catering adapted for cyclists, bike repair and cleaning facilities, information and maps regarding local cycling routes, promotions and discounts for cyclists
Support for cycling activities of igKnight, which promotes health and wellbeing for people with a disability by connecting them to the community.
The Disability Trust’s CycleAbility programme, which helps people with a disability experience the fun, fitness and independence that comes with riding a bike. As an aside, the Disability Trust is part of Wollongong’s Bike Friendly Business Programme.
Investment in cycling infrastructure, including more than 50 km of world-class mountain bike trails in Mt Kembla, scheduled for completion in the first half of 2023 ($80 million investment).
Samara Sheppard says the longer-term impact of the UCI Road World Championships will be improved cycling infrastructure and investment into the community, but with particular focus on safety.
“A crucial legacy piece is the aim to create a safer cycling environment, given Australia does not boast the ingrained cycling culture – and acceptance of cyclists on the road – that Europe boasts,” she says. “This is where the Amy Gillet Foundation with its strong safety messages, and Healthy Cities Illawarra, with its wonderful ‘More than a Cyclist’ campaign beginning the day after the UCI World Championships conclude, will play an important role.”
UCI Bike City label adds weight to plans for the future
The UCI Bike City Coordinator say that the UCI label is a boost to the city’s continued cycling promotion plans: “The UCI Bike City label brings an immediate and significant amount of credibility to Wollongong, especially for a major city in Australia’s most populated state, where there remains plenty of work to do in motorists’ acceptance of cyclists.
“If we do the label justice, it also gives us leverage opportunities and positioning as an enabler and authoritative figure in the sector. For example, we’re looking to hold a Bike City Summit in March, inviting cities from Australia and New Zealand developing cycling strategies to learn and share ideas.”
As excitement in the lead-up to the UCI Road World Championships builds, the Wollongong 2022 Community Ride will give participants a chance to cycle on a part of the UCI World Championships course and ride under the finish arch. The community ride takes place on 17 September, the day of the opening ceremony for the UCI Road World Championships, and includes options for people of all ages and ability.
The next day, the world’s Elite will take to the roads of Wollongong and its surrounds. The majority of the population are positive about the event.
In a perception survey carried out in April this year, 78% of respondents agreed that hosting the UCI Road World Championships would benefit Wollongong. The perception survey will be repeated next month – after the UCI Road Worlds – and shared in the city’s UCI Bike City Dashboard.
Samara Sheppard believes the event will win over not only the locals, but the entire world: “There’s no better product than hours of stunning cycling footage to showcase the beauty, vibrancy and proximity of our region to the world. Cycling also provides some authentic links into our diverse multicultural make-up and sports technology, given we’re known as the City of Innovation.”