Australia's answer to the Tour de France the L'Etape has recently been shut out of the Shoalhaven, prompting Bega's Adrian Day to float the idea of bringing it to the Bega Valley.
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The L'Etape hosted by Lateral Events had its support pulled by Shoalhaven Council last month after initially supporting the road bike ride and race, leaving organisers no choice but to cancel.
Mr Day, who runs Bega's School of Strength is a foundation rider of the Australian event, taking part since it's inception in 2016, said he was dumbfounded by their decision.
"Shoalhaven have said 'we're discouraging the L'Etape from coming' and it doesn't make sense," he said.
He said everyone in the Valley had been doing it tough and acquiring a major ride like the L'Etape could bring in 4000 or more riders to the area, filling accommodation providers and restaurants who have been sorely lacking for patronage.
So Mr Day has reached out to the head of sport for Lateral Events as well as reaching out to the Bega Valley Shire Council and MPs Andrew Constance and Kristy McBain about the prospect of bringing the rides here in 2022.
"Part of what killed it in the Shoalhaven was the outlay of money to fix some roads, but it serves the purpose to fix them for the ride and then the community has improved infrastructure to follow, it's not like council is going to rip up the repairs after," Mr Day said.
Mr Day said he had consulted with John Watkin at the Bega Chamber who said planning would be a good start to potentially seeing the event here next year.
"I had a really good chat with John and Kristy liked one of my tweets so I'm taking that positively," Mr Day said with a laugh.
Previous layouts have been as long as 170km, while the Kiama circuit was set down for 136km distance with 2700 metres of climb, with Mr Day believing the Bega Valley could provide a wealth of scenic coastal and country roads to choose from.
"I put my head together with Jim Campbell about some potential routes and I'm having some chats this week with some blokes - who I'd imagine are some of the most experienced riders down here in Dominique Rideaux and Claude from Merimbula Surf and Cycle to basically work out where it could run."
A layout could work to keep road closures minimal, while showcasing the coast.
While Mr Day maintained that "hills are awful" he sees the ride as ticking off a personal goal each year and would love to see it in the Valley.
"I don't know what L'Etape have in mind, but especially in this mad world of COVID, let's look a bit further and see if we can bring it here."