The Herald Sun Tour stage races in Australia have been cancelled for 2022 for both men and women, with the next event postponed to 2023.

This news follows the Tour Down Under's announcement that it will once again host a smaller, regional event next January after COVID-19 restrictions scaled back its World Tour ambitions for the second consecutive year.

This will be the second consecutive year that the Herald Sun Tour race has been cancelled after being removed from the calendar in 2021.

The Herald Sun Tour is one of the oldest stage races on the Australian road calendar, with its roots dating back to the first edition in 1952. Both the men's and women's races are held in February following the Tour Down Under.

While Australia has plans to ease international travel in the coming months, the Herald Sun Tour race organizers have made the difficult decision to remove the 2022 race from the race calendar for public health reasons. Unlike Europe and the United States, cross-border travel is unpredictable and restricted in Australia due to the presence of COVID-19 cases.

"While we are proud of our history as the oldest cycling stage race in the country, the unpredictability that COVID-19 brings to our event poses too many challenges for us to continue this event next year. In particular, the quarantine restrictions associated with COVID make it very difficult to attract the best international riders," said Tom Salom, President of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. We did not make this decision lightly, and the team will continue to explore all possibilities to resume racing in 2023. We would like to thank the government, industry officials, sponsors, teams, riders, officials and fans for their loyal and continued support of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and Women's Herald Sun Tour, and we look forward to racing on a street near you in 2023! We look forward to seeing you in 2023."

Jai Hindley won the last men's Herald Sun Tour in 2020. Other past winners of the men's race include Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins, Simon Gerrans, Baden Cook, Udo Bolt, Adri van der Pol, and John Trevorrow.