page_title: Dunlop Grand Prix
section_title: Stage 1: Melbourne - Wangaratta
hierarchical_section_title: Dunlop Grand Prix / Stages / Stage 1: Melbourne - Wangaratta
caption_attribution_description: English: Cr George Handley, Mayor of Wangaratta (left) and Hubert Opperman (right) facing gathered crowd in Wangaratta on 15 Nov 1927 after Opperman won the the first stage of Dunlop Grand Prix bicycle race.
context_page_description: The Dunlop Grand Prix was, in 1927, the biggest cycling race in the British Empire and the richest race in the world. It was organised by the Dunlop Rubber Company which had a long history of organising bicycle races, including the Warrnambool to Melbourne, Colac to Melbourne and Goulburn to Sydney. As a result of the Dunlop Grand Prix, the Warrnambool was not held in 1927 however the Colac and Goulburn races were.
  The race was held in four stages from the 14–19 November 1927, with two rest days, covering 690 miles and a description of the race was broadcast on radio station 3LO. At that time the title of Long Distance Road Champion of Australasia was awarded to the fastest time in the Warrnambool and for 1927 the title was awarded to the fastest time in the Dunlop Grand Prix. There was a dispute between the League of Victorian Wheelmen and Melbourne Carnivals Ltd which threatened the participation of a number of cyclists, including Hubert Opperman. The dispute however was resolved a month before the event.
  The featured riders, in addition to Opperman were Percy Osborn, Jack Beasley, then holder of the 100 miles world’s record, Harry Moody, NSW and Harry Watson from New Zealand.
context_section_description: Stage 1 on Monday 14 November 1927 was 183 miles (295 km) from Melbourne to Wangaratta and was described by Iddo "Snowy" Munro, the former Tour de France rider, as the toughest race set for road riders in Australia and before the stage Snowy predicted that only 25 or 30 would complete the stage. While the pre race reports spoke of a limit of 110 riders, 59 riders faced the starter, and 52 finished.  Opperman was in the lead from Healesville for the hardest climb of the stage, the Blacks Spur.  Einsiedel caught Opperman on the downhill run from Narbethong to Buxton.  Opperman dropped Einsiedel at Alexandra while Watson overtook Einsiedel at Benalla. The stage was won by Opperman in convincing style, 50 minutes in front of the expected time and with a 15-minute lead over second placed Watson.
  The time limit for the stage was 12h 35'  and 35 riders were within the time. The last rider in was N Coates who walked the last 5 miles so he could finish, albeit 4 hours after Opperman, 1 hour 40 minutes outside the time limit. It appears the time limit was not enforced however as all 52 finishers were reported as starting stage 2.
caption: Cr George Handley, Mayor and Hubert Opperman in Wangaratta, 15 Nov 1927 after Opperman won the first stage of the Dunlop Grand Prix
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "CanoScan LiDE 400", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "400", "Image YResolution": "400", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "IJ Scan Utility", "Image DateTime": "2020/05/06 22:17:53", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "210", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "400", "Thumbnail YResolution": "400", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "426", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7572", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2020/05/06 22:17:53", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2186", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1344"}