This week, the venue for the 2020 Australian Road Championships will be chosen. Cycling Australia [CA] and the event organizers, along with authorities, are closely monitoring the fire danger and monitoring air quality to ensure the health of the riders.

Australian bushfires continue to burn across much of New South Wales and Victoria, with the championships being held in the latter. In South Australia, organizers of the Tour Down Under have announced that the men's and women's stage races will continue to be held despite the fires in the Adelaide Hills.

"CA and the event organizers are in regular contact with the Country Fire Authority (CFA), Victoria Police and Ballarat City Council regarding local bushfire risks, air quality conditions and weather forecasts.

"Conditions will be monitored by the Event Control Centre on each day of the championship. All decisions regarding the event will be based on advice and information from the above discussions, and participants and officials will be kept up-to-date as necessary.

"The event organizers will inspect the air quality, receiving reports twice a day, and will also take advice from the official medical supplier and the race doctor," he continued. At present, the plan does not indicate any dangerous air quality levels for the duration of the event."

The national championships will be held in the Victorian towns of Ballarat and Bunyon, just over 100 km northwest of Melbourne, and will begin on January 8 with time trials in various categories, including elite women's and men's races.

The national criterium championships will then be held in central Ballarat on Friday, January 10, followed by the elite women's and men's road races on the final day, Sunday, January 12, starting and finishing in Buninyong.

Once the championships are held, elite time trial champions Luke Durbridge and Grace Brown (both Mitchelton-Scott), elite criterium champions Brenton Jones (Canyon dhb) and Rebecca Wiersek, and elite road race champions Sarah Gigante (Tibco-SVB) and Michael Freiberg (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) will attempt to defend their titles in 2019.