The Austral Wheel Race is the oldest track bicycle race in the world still existing, stretching back to 1887. It is owned and run by AusCycling Victoria. The Austral race is Australia’s greatest track cycling event. It is held in Melbourne, riders assigned handicaps according to ability over a series of heats. The finals are run over 2000m.^[1]

The races in 2004 and 2005 were at John Cain Arena in February. The first race in 1887 held at Melbourne Cricket Ground over 3 miles (4800m), with first prize of a grand piano valued at 200 pounds. Other venues in Melbourne to host the race include the Exhibition Track, the North Essendon board track, the Olympic Park Velodrome and the Brunswick, Coburg and Northcote velodromes.

Malvern Star, a brand in bicycles in Australia, had its origins in the race. In December 1898 a young bicycle mechanic and professional cyclist, Tom Finnigan, won from a handicap of 220 yards (200 m) holding off backmarkers with a foot to spare. The prize of 240 sovereigns let him establish a suburban bicycle shop, Malvern Star Cycles, which became a household name under Bruce Small.

Corruption tinged the event in 1901 when the American, Bill Martin, won from scratch, to allegations of fixing by John Wren.^[2] According to The Age in 1903 referring to 1902 "one of the judges appointed to officiate at the Austral Wheel meeting was called upon to resign, because he had a monetary interest in the result of the Austral Wheel Race."^[3]

In December 2019 Kelland O'Brien won from scratch in a time of 1min 58.44 sec, an average of 60.81 km/h at Hisense Arena.

Prize money

Prize money has varied, following the fashion for cycling, from a grand piano to monetary prizes of 240 sovereigns in 1898, 450 sovereigns in 1902,^[4] to a low of $1500 during the 1970s, increasing to $5,000 in 1982, and now exceeding $18,000 since 2000.

Past winners

Crisp winner of the Austral 1895 with Pearl (second) and Gargurevich (third)

Past competitors include distinguished Australian and international cyclists, including Gordon Johnson, Steele Bishop, Sid Patterson, Russell Mockridge, Danny Clarke, Brett Aitken, Gary Neiwand and Shane Kelly. The record for the most wins belongs to Victorian Stephen Pate with four victories: in 1988 from scratch, in 1991 from minus 10m, in 1993 from minus 20m and 1999 from scratch.

In 2000, Neiwand was handicapped on 70m for the millennium edition and won comfortably.

Austral Wheel Race Winners

	Year	Venue	Men's Winner	Handicap	Ref.	Women's Winner	Handicap
1	1887 [n 1]	MCG	Harry H. Lambton	210 yd (190 m)	[5]
2	1888 [n 1]	MCG	Dick Davis	Scr	[6]
3	1889 [n 1]	MCG	Jimmy Mullins	140 yd (130 m)	[7]
4	1890 [n 1]	MCG	Tom Busst	Scr.	[8]
5	1891 [n 1]	MCG	Arthur Turner	240 yd (220 m)	[9]
6	1892 [n 1]	MCG	Harry H. Lambton	200 yd (180 m)	[10]
7	1893	MCG	Gordon Woodward	270 yd (250 m)	[11]
8	1894	MCG	Alf Middleton	180 yd (160 m)	[12]
9	1895	MCG	A. Crisp	250 yd (230 m)	[13]
10	1896	MCG	Charles Kellow	15 yd (14 m)	[14]
11	1897	MCG	Jim Carpenter	85 yd (78 m)	[15]
12	1898	MCG	Tom Finnigan	220 yd (200 m)	[16]
13	1899	MCG	Frank Beauchamp	150 yd (140 m)	[17]
14	1900	MCG	Charles Forbes	30 yd (27 m)	[18]
15	1901	MCG	Bill Martin	Scr	[2][19]
16	1902	MCG	Fred (Murray) Auger	240 yd (220 m)	[20]
17	1903	MCG	Fred Scheps	160 yd (150 m)	[21]
18	1904	EXA	Jack Clarke	150 yd (140 m)	[22]
19	1905	EXA	J. Sandberg	170 yd (160 m)	[23]
20	1906	EXA	Harry Thomas	20 yd (18 m)	[24]
21	1907	MCG	A.C. Colvin	150 yd (140 m)	[25]
22	1908	MCG	M. McPherson	280 yd (260 m)	[26]
23	1909	MCG	Albert H. Pianta	210 yd (190 m)	[27]
24	1910	MCG	Frank Corry	140 yd (130 m)
25	1912	EXI	W. Priestly	60 yd (55 m)
26	1913	EXI	P.B. Henry	60 yd (55 m)
27	1920	EXA	Ern. Tamme	50 yd (46 m)
28	1921	EXA	Lou Clifford	120 yd (110 m)
29	1922	EXA	Jack Fitzgerald	Scr	[28]
30	1923	EXA	Dick Ford	120 yd (110 m)
31	1923	MD	Pidge Davis	200 yd (180 m)
32	1925	MD	Frank Corry	140 yd (130 m)
33	1925	EXA	Eric Giboud	60 yd (55 m)
34	1927 [n 2]	EXA	Bowie Stevens	70 yd (64 m)
35	1927 [n 2]	MD	Cecil Hannerman	160 yd (150 m)
36	1927 [n 2]	MD	Cecil Manners	245 yd (224 m)
37	1929	MD	Richard “Fatty” Lamb	30 yd (27 m)	[29]
38	1936 [n 3]	MD	Keith Thurgood	100 yd (91 m)
39	1936 [n 3]	EXB	Harry Webb	70 yd (64 m)
40	1937	EXB	Jack Gardiner	205 yd (187 m)	[30]
41	1938	EXB	Jack Middleton	120 yd (110 m)
42	1939	NE	Clinton Beasley	90 yd (82 m)
43	1940	NE	Norm Stevens	20 yd (18 m)
44	1941	NE	Ken Stewart	60 yd (55 m)
45	1942	NE	Mick Bradley	160 yd (150 m)
46	1944 [n 3]	NE	Norm Munro	90 yd (82 m)
47	1944 [n 3]	NE	Tas Johnson [n 4]	30 yd (27 m)
48	1945	NE	Tom Shillito	160 yd (150 m)
49	1946	NE	Pat Devine	120 yd (110 m)
50	1947	NE	George Bull	130 yd (120 m)
51	1948	NE	Bill Kirkham	120 yd (110 m)
52	1950	NE	Byron Bonney	120 yd (110 m)
53	1951	NE	Kevin Marion	105 yd (96 m)
54	1952	NE	Doug Jennings	120 yd (110 m)
55	1953	NE	Tom Fitzgerald	140 yd (130 m)
56	1954	NE	Alan Geddes	130 yd (120 m)
57	1955	NE	Ron Murray	100 yd (91 m)
58	1956	NE	Don Meharg	130 yd (120 m)
59	1957	NE	John Robertson	100 yd (91 m)
60	1958	OP	Neil Geraghty	100 yd (91 m)
61	1959	OP	Vin Beasley	100 yd (91 m)
62	1960	OP	David Good	100 yd (91 m)
63	1961	OP	Fred Roche	40 yd (37 m)
64	1962	OP	Sid Patterson	Scr	[31]
65	1963	OP	Fred Hellyer	110 yd (100 m)
66	1964	OP	Sid Patterson	Scr.
67	1965	OP	Kenton Smith	135 yd (123 m)
68	1966	OP	Bill Dove	150 yd (140 m)
69	1967	OP	Victor Browne	65 yd (59 m)
70	1968	OP	Merv. Andrea	230 yd (210 m)
71	1969	OP	Charlie Walsh	50 yd (46 m)
72	1970	OP	Bill Stevens	35 yd (32 m)
73	1971	BV	Frank Daly	135 yd (123 m)
74	1972	BV	Geoff Edmonds	20 yd (18 m)
75	1973	BV	Gordon Johnson [n 4]	Scr.
76	1974	BV	Ivan Collings	90 yd (82 m)
77	1975	NV	Craig Price	130 yd (120 m)	[1]
78	1976	NV	David Allan	70 yd (64 m)
79	1977	NV	Danny Clark	Scr.
80	1978	CV	David Sanders [n 5]	50 m
81	1979	CV	Laurie Venn	Scr.
82	1980	CV	Daryl Benson	90 m
83	1981	CV	Laurie Venn	Scr.
84	1982	NV	Steele Bishop	Scr.
85	1983	NV	Phil Sawyer	Scr.
86	1984	NV	Terry Schintler	80 m
87	1985	NV	Allan Rackstraw	80 m
88	1986	CV	Danny Clark	Scr.
89	1987	NV	Simon King	110 m
90	1988	NV	Stephen Pate	Scr.
91	1989	NV	Grant Reynolds	150 m
92	1990	NV	Danny Clark	Scr.
93	1991	NV	Stephen Pate	Minus 10 m
94	1992	NV	Bert Glennon	120 m
95	1993	NV	Stephen Pate	Minus 20 m
96	1994	NV	Ashley Harding	140 m
97	1995	NV	Tony Hughes	80 m
98	1996	NV	Troy Clarke	45 m
99	1997	NV	Matthew Atkins	100 m
100	1998	NV	Shane Hodskiss	75 m
101	1999	NV	Stephen Pate	Scr.	[32]
102	2000	NV	Gary Neiwand	70 m	[33]	Helen Ingpen	210 m
103	2001	JCA	Mark French	80 m	[34]	Leeanne Manderson
104	2002	JCA	Darren Young	Scr.	[35]	Kristine Bayley	Scr.
105	2003	JCA	Darren Young	Scr.	[36]
106	2004	JCA	Zak Dempster	90 m	[37]	Jenny Macpherson
107	2005	JCA	Ben Kersten	Scr.	[38]	Rahna Demarte	[39]
108	2006	JCA	Dean Taylor	130 m	[40]	Livia Gluchowska	85 m
109	2007	JCA	Joel Stewart	110 m	[41]	Uracca Leow	85 m [42]
110	2008	JCA	Jackson-Leigh Rathbone	40 m	[43]
111	2009 [n 3]	JCA	Shane Perkins	15 m	[44]
112	2009 [n 3]	DISC	Ben Sanders [n 5]	80 m	[45]
113	2011	DISC	Luke Ockerby	45 m	[46]	Annette Edmondson	Scr.
114	2012	DISC	Luke Parker	90 m	[47]	Annette Edmondson	Scr.
115	2013	DISC	Jason Niblett	90 m	[48]	Caitlin Ward	20 m
116	2014 [n 3]	DISC	Minori Shimmura (JPN)	105 m	[49]	Annina Gallagher	230 m
117	2014 [n 3]	JCA	Zach Williams (NZ)	105 m	[50]	Brooke Tucker	110 m
118	2015	JCA	Mitch Bullen	50 m	[51]	Annette Edmondson	Scr.
119	2016	JCA	Stephen Cuff	95 m	[52]	Brooklyn Vonderwall	125 m
120	2017	JCA	Zachary Marshall	80 m	[53]	Kristina Clonan	30 m
121	2018	JCA	Sam Gallagher	90 m	[54]	Stephanie Corset	165 m
122	2019	JCA	Kelland O'Brien	Scr.	[55]	Georgia Baker	Scr.
123	2021	DISC	Sam Gallagher	Scr.	[56]	Lucinda Stewart	Scr.
124	2022	DISC	Dalton Stretton	105 m	[57]	Maeve Plouffe	Scr.

Venues

Notes

References

External links

• "Tom Finnigan". Canberra Bicycle Museum. Archived from the original on 7 October 2009.
• Austral Wheel Race history