- Source: Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club
Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club is an Australian cycling club based in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Established in the early 1900s, it has a long history of road, criterium and track racing. Carnegie-Caufield riders have won multiple cycling premierships at both senior and junior level. Its members have gone on to win multiple national and world championships as well as participate at the Olympics.
Club history
Originally known as the Carnegie Amateur Cycling Club, the club traces its history back over 100 years. Early races were typically handicap races over 10–60-mile road courses, often starting at the Rosstown Hotel before making their way along Dandenong Road.
The club also played a big part in the local community, in particular through its support for the Oakleigh Carnival. Around this time, the club formalised the first incarnation of its junior program recorded in 1931 after early success in the Victoria Club Premierships. At the same time, Carnegie's senior team also won major races.
During the 1950s, Carnegie track racing, held at its local track Packer Park, drew crowds of up to 4000 spectators watching some of Australia's best amateur and professional riders. The quality of Carnegie's track racing was a key driver behind the push by the NSW Cycling Union to move the 1956 Melbourne Olympics track cycling programme to the Carnegie velodrome after delays in the resurfacing of the Olympic Park Velodrome. Although the push did not succeed – the Olympic track program was held at Olympic Park – subsequent issues with the Olympic track created a second push to move the Australian Titles (to be held after the Olympics) to the Carnegie Velodrome.
Carnegie's track racing program become even more popular during the 1960s and 1970s with the Caulfield Cup on Wheels being the leading race for amateur cyclists in Melbourne, often being held on the same night as the Melbourne Cup on Wheels, an equivalent race for professional cyclists.
In 1984, Carnegie Amateurs Cycling Club merged with Brighton-South Caulfield Professional Cyclists Association to form Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club.
More recently, the club's summer criterium racing has become very popular, attracting some of the best riders in the World and is regularly covered in leading cycling publications including Cyclingnews.com. This success, however, did attract some unwanted attention in 2013.
Racing
The club hosts a range of races over the course of the year. In summer, criterium races are held on Sunday mornings at Glenvale Crescent and Tuesday evenings at Sandown Raceway. The club also holds track racing and training during summer. Over winter, the club runs longer road races east of Melbourne.
= Criterium racing
=Between October and April each summer, Carnegie Caulfield holds weekly criterium races on Sunday mornings at Glenvale Crescent, Mulgrave and on Tuesday evenings at Sandown Raceway. Races are typically between 45 and 60 minutes and are conducted on circuits with little to no vehicle traffic. Racing caters for all levels of riders, from elite male and female professionals to juniors and novice riders. It is not uncommon for 300+ riders to attend a day's racing.
At the elite end, A Grade has hosted some of the world's best riders, including:
Tour de France yellow jersey winner, and UCI World Road Race Champion Cadel Evans
Tour de France yellow jersey winner, Olympic Gold Medallist, UCI World Pursuit Champion and World Hour Record Holder Sir Bradley Wiggins
Tour de France green jersey winner Baden Cooke
Vuelta a Espana King of the Mountains winner Simon Clarke
Giro d'Italia King of the Mountains winner Matt Lloyd
Milan–San Remo and Liège–Bastogne–Liège winner Simon Gerrans
Glenvale Crescent has also hosted some of the world's leading female riders, including:
Olympic Road Race Gold Medallist, UCI World Road Race Champion, Nicole Cooke
Olympic Road Race Gold Medallist, Elizabeth Tadich
Olympic Road Race Gold Medallist, Kathy Watt
World Individual Pursuit Champion, Katie Mactier
Two-time winner of UCI World Cup Anna Millward
For most of the season, women race alongside men, with prizes paid for the first ~3 women across the line in each grade (depending on overall numbers). There also 2–3 women's only races held over the course of the summer criterium racing season.
The club also conducts a cycling clinic for junior riders at both Glendale Crescent and Sandown each week. Riders are taught bunch riding and racing skills by Tokyo Olympian Mick Hollingworth for around 20 minutes before they are set free to race for 10 minutes.
Race entries are accepted on the day.
Carnegie Caulfield's summer criterium are internationally renowned and have been cited as some of the best racing in Australia.
Multiple independent websites provided advice to new riders looking to get into racing with Carnegie Caulfield
= Track racing
=Carnegie Caulfield offers track racing for riders of all levels. The club has also received significant support from state and federal government, most recently in relation to installing new flood lighting
= Winter road racing
=Over winter, Carnegie Caulfield holds mass start and handicap races east of Melbourne. Races are typically between 80 km and 100 km. The club also holds a major race at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit each year in May.
Elite team
Carnegie Caulfield's elite team has had a successful history over several decades. The team has raced at high-profile events such as the Bay Classic Series. More recently, the club has partnered with Switzer to enter a team in the Victoria Racing Series. The 2015 team was composed of
Jack Hickey
Adam Mulford
Stefan Imberger
Alex Holden
Matthew Bennett
Simon Frost
Jake Klajnblat
Junior development program
The club also offers a comprehensive training program for junior riders. The program, coached by Olympian Hilton Clarke Snr., has produced over 15 world and over 100 national champions. Several riders going on to have a successful career on the World Tour Cycling circuit.
Awards
Carnegie Caulfield has been awarded the Australian Club Premiership by Cycling Australia 7 times in the last 10 years
Club members
= Olympians and Paralympians
=Club riders have represented Australia at 13 Olympic and Paralympics Games
= World Champions
=Carnegie Caulfield riders have won 15 World Championships since 1988.
= National Champions
=Club members have won over 100 Australian Champions
= Club champions
=References
External links
Official website