The Victorian Cycling Grand Prix was a one-day classic road bicycle race held in October 1946.
[1] Professional cycling events in Australia were largely suspended in the years from 1940 to 1945 as a result of the Second World War, and in 1946 the Victorian Cycling Grand Prix was held in October at around the time the Warrnambool to Melbourne one-day classic had been held in the pre-war years.
The Grand Prix was described at the time as "the cycling classic of the year"[2] and "Australia's 1946 cycling classic" and the winner (Phil Thomas, SA) was lauded as the "outstanding professional roadman in Australia in 1946" as a result of his victory in the race.
[3] Unlike the Warrnambool to Melbourne, the event was a Scratch Race with a massed start of close to 100 entrants, categorised into A, B and C grades.
The race covered 195 miles (314 km), starting in Bendigo at 5:50am before passing through Castlemaine, Maryborough, Ballarat and Geelong and finishing in front of a large crowd of nearly 10,000[4] at the Melbourne Showgrounds, where a large all-sports carnival was held on the same day.