Tour de Brisbane 2025 Highlights
– A Cycling Festival for Everyone, from Families to Semi-Pros [Part 1] –
Ayaka, a Brisbane local, took part in the Brisbane Cycling Festival with her partner Yoshi.
She reports on the main ride event, Tour de Brisbane 2025, from the perspective of a local cyclist.
Table of Contents
1 What Is the Tour de Brisbane?
2 Overview of Each Ride Category and Course
3 A Surreal Experience on Fully Closed Highways and Bus Lanes
4 Cyclists from 15 Countries Join the Event
5 A New Starting Point and Growing Excitement
1 What Is the Tour de Brisbane?
The Tour de Brisbane, held in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia, is a large-scale urban cycling event that features full road closures, allowing everyone from beginners to serious cyclists to enjoy the ride. Held annually in April, as autumn begins in the Southern Hemisphere, the event transforms the city into a cyclist’s paradise.
Given the name “Tour de Brisbane,” some may associate it with a high-level competition for advanced riders. However, the event is designed to be accessible to all, offering a wide range of ride options—from family rides to full-scale races—making it an inclusive and enjoyable experience for everyone.
2 Overview of Each Ride Category and Course
One of the main attractions of the Tour de Brisbane is the wide variety of ride categories and course options available, allowing participants to choose the route that best suits their fitness level and experience.
🚲 UCI Gran Fondo World Series Qualifier / 120km Long Ride (Gran Fondo)
This is the longest and most demanding ride, stretching all the way out to the suburbs of Brisbane and finishing with a climb up Mt Coot-tha—one of the city’s most renowned hill climb spots. While there’s also a 120km non-competitive fun ride category, the race category serves as a qualifier for the UCI Gran Fondo World Series. As a result, it attracts many club-level and semi-professional riders, offering a truly competitive and high-level racing atmosphere.
🚲 80km Medium Ride (Intermediate Ride)
This intermediate course follows much of the 120km route but excludes some of the inner-city segments and the Mt Coot-tha hill climb. It’s one of the most popular categories with a wide range of participants. Ideal for those who want to experience the thrill of group riding, enjoy a satisfying challenge, and take in varied scenery over a moderate distance.
🚲 50km Short Ride
The Short Ride features a relatively flat course, making it an accessible challenge even for beginners. In addition to road bikes, many participants take part on cross bikes, mountain bikes, or electric-assist e-bikes. This category is also notable for its wide range of participants, from teenagers to seniors. It’s the perfect option for those who want to enjoy the cityscapes at their own pace while still soaking in the ride with a relaxed, sightseeing vibe.
🚲 6.5km Big Family Fun Ride
A short-distance ride designed for the whole family to enjoy together. Just like the other categories, riders get to experience the highlight of crossing the iconic Story Bridge—making this ride especially popular, with 2,500 participants joining this year. The course is safe and accessible even for families with small children. (Children under 7 years of age must be accompanied by a guardian.)
3 A Surreal Experience on Fully Closed Highways and Bus Lanes
The biggest appeal of the Tour de Brisbane, common to all categories, is undoubtedly the complete closure of both sides of the entire route, both uphill and downhill.
The bus-only lanes, which are usually reserved for city buses, the high-speed bypass roads, the office district of the CBD (Central Business District), home to many local cyclists’ workplaces, and Brisbane’s iconic Story Bridge… These familiar areas for local cyclists transform into an extraordinary space on this special day. For those coming from outside Australia, it is undoubtedly a premium experience that cannot be replicated through typical sightseeing.
4 Cyclists from 15 Countries Join the Event
A total of 7,500 cyclists participated in this year’s event. Among them were not only local cyclists from Brisbane but also participants from other cities across Queensland and cyclists from 15 countries around the world.
Four days before the event, an online briefing session was held for riders, offering a convenient and welcoming initiative that allowed people to participate regardless of location.
At the Cycle Expo venue at South Bank Parklands, where bib numbers were picked up the day before the event, we even spotted a group of participants who spoke Japanese.
5 A New Starting Point and Growing Excitement
The starting point for the 2025 Tour de Brisbane was at the newly opened multi-use facility “Queens Wharf” in the city’s CBD, which had just opened in August of the previous year.
Set in this modern location, which includes the “Star Brisbane” casino, the sight of 7,500 cyclists starting together at 5 a.m. in the still dim early morning was truly breathtaking. Amidst the slightly cool air of early autumn, the atmosphere was filled with excitement and energy.
Text_Ayaka
◆For the latest information and details, please check the official Tour de Brisbane website.
https://tourdebrisbane.org/
◆2024 Report
BRISBANE CYCLING FESTIVAL 2024
Local Cyclist Ayaka’s On-site Report from Brisbane
Part 1
Part 2
◆Related Pages
Official Brisbane Cycling Festival Website
https://www.brisbanecyclingfestival.com/
Profile
Ayaka (Editor/Writer)
Residing in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Captivated by cycling journeys in 2011, they have contributed travel reports from around the world to the magazine Cycle Sports. During her study abroad in Australia in 2017, she serialized “G’day, Australia! ~ Bicycle News from Brisbane” on Cycle Sports.jp. After returning to Japan, she worked as an English educational material editor and as an interpreter/MC for a bicycle NPO. She moved to Brisbane in 2022 and is currently sharing the charm of Australian cycling.
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https://www.youtube.com/@aya_p_BNE