Sunday February 1st 2026 - #10 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race: Geelong > Geelong (182.3km)

Who will win the first WorldTour classic of 2026 on Sunday 1 February according to the computer? The tenth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race is scheduled for this coming Saturday.

The anniversary edition of this one‑day race, which has been part of the WorldTour since 2017, runs from Geelong to Geelong. The finale of this hilly classic sends the peloton four times over a local circuit in which the Challambra Crescent (1.3 km at 7.8%) has been the decisive climb for years. The final summit is 6.8 kilometres from the finish. With 1,648 metres of climbing it is not extremely hard, but recent editions have shown that a sprint in Geelong is far from guaranteed.

Ten editions of CEGOR have produced ten different winners. For many of them, it is the biggest victory on their palmarès. For Pithie (2024), Mayrhofer (2023) and Devenyns (2020) it is their only win at the highest level, and for McCarthy (2018) and Schmid (2025) it is by far their most important victory in a one‑day race. With three podium finishes (three times 3rd), Impey has the most top‑3 results, and Simon Clarke (2nd and 3rd), Viviani (1st and 2nd) and Pithie (1st and 3rd) have also stood on the podium in Geelong multiple times. For Simon Clarke it is his last race as a pro, he quits pro-cycling after this race.

In recent years, the winner has emerged from a sprint or a late attack from a reduced group of favourites. Defending champion Mauro Schmid appears to be in good form and will very likely be on the start line. The 2nd and 3rd from 2025, Aaron Gate and Laurence Pithie, are already in Australia for the Tour Down Under and are contenders for victory in CEGOR 2026. Alongside those three, Corbin Strong, Danny van Poppel, Matthew Brennan, Tim Torn Teutenberg and Tobias Lund Andresen appear on the start list as fast finishers. Javier Romo and Andrea Bagioli are the type of riders who survived last year in the group that battled for the win and are also taking part again.