Australia's premier cycling event will return to Ballarat in 2024.
At an ordinary Council meeting on Wednesday night, Ballarat City Councillors approved an officer's recommendation to agree to a one-year funding agreement to host the 2024 AusCycling Road National Championships event.
The contract extension is worth $660,000 and will result in Ballarat hosting the event for 18 consecutive years.
The Championships were first held in Ballarat from 2002 to 2004, then every year since 2007 and have delivered substantial economic, tourism and community benefits to Ballarat.
The event has returned an average economic impact of $4 million per year over the last five years and has consistently yielded considerable brand exposure of Ballarat to a national and international audience.
City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the Road National Championships has allowed Ballarat to shine on the national stage and established the city as an events destination.
"Being able to host the event for almost two decades has shown that we are more than capable of hosting large-scale and complex events on the national stage," Cr Hudson said.
"We value our collaborative relationship with AusCycling and acknowledge the positive impact the event has had on our city.
"We understand the AusCycling board has decided to rotate the event elsewhere throughout Australia to reflect the national status of the event. We are hopeful that it will return to Ballarat in the not too distant future."
AusCycling CEO Marne Fechner said the City of Ballarat had been a fantastic partner and host location for the Road Nationals for the past 18 years.
"After much consideration, we have decided to rotate the host location for the Championships commencing in 2025," she said.
"It is our very strong hope that we will work with Council, Victorian Government, Federation University and our other event partners to deliver a fitting celebration of the event in 2024, before we take the event to other locations for a while.
"AusCycling looks forward to making an official announcement about the future of the Road Nationals in the near future."
