Valtteri Bottas invites fans to join him at the RADL GRVL: "We encourage anybody to join if they want to explore"

As part of the festival of cycling that surrounds the WorldTour race, this year sees the inaugural Australian RADL GRVL, with F1 driver Valtteri Bottas as one of the many crowd-drawers this event offers. About 200 riders are expected to compete, including Nathan Haas, Bottas, his partner and Canyon-SRAM rider Tiffany Cromwell and Lidl-Trek's Brodie Chapman.

"It will be really competitive," said Bottas ahead of the race. "We've got some really good riders for both men's and women's races. But it's not only a pro event, it's definitely for everybody."

"We encourage anybody to join if they want to explore, because you can either race or you can take part, you know, or just challenge yourself or just enjoy the route, enjoy the atmosphere."

"The course… I'm sure people are gonna love it," he continued. "Because I did most of it last week, and it's stunning, the scenery and the roads and how flowy it is."