The proposed national merger of Australia's different cycling disciplines took a hit on Monday when Cycling Tasmania announced that nine of its 14 member clubs had expressed "opposition."

Cycling Australia, Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA), and BMX Australia, Australia's three national sports organizations (NSOs), for their respective cycling disciplines to become part of the newly proposed AusCycling, 75 percent of its members must vote "yes."

The current AusCycling proposal includes a single racing license to race in all disciplines of the sport, an improved coaching program, a dedicated member services team available to assist clubs and riders in all disciplines, cycling venues, trail and a dedicated advocacy team that will lobby local, state and federal governments to improve cyclist safety, including proposals for additional paths and national bicycle education programs.

Individual members of MTBA will vote on November 30, but voting has already taken place among the eight state/territory associations of Cycling Australia and BMX Australia, and each NSO needs at least six of the eight associations to vote "yes", or 75%.

In Road/Track, Cycling South Australia, Cycling Victoria, Cycling Queensland, and Cycling Northern Territory all voted in favor. West Cycle (Western Australia), Cycling New South Wales, and now Cycling Tasmania all said they would vote "no". Individual members (not clubs) of Cycling ACT (Australian Capital Territory) will vote on November 26.

Various road and track "ambassadors," including 2012 Milan-San Remo winner Simon Gerrans, two-time Olympic track gold medalist Anna Meares, and 12-time Tour de France stage winner Robbie McEwen Despite their support for auscycling, the state associations that voted against it were not moved by all the advantages proposed by the auscycling model, and the substantial closure of the state associations seems to have persuaded many clubs.

Many of the associations that voted against seemed more open to another model that would retain some degree of autonomy at the state/territory level and potentially place all cycling disciplines within a state/territory under one umbrella.

It appears that for AusCycling to move forward in any form, at least two of the three NSOs would need to vote "Yes"; AusCycling already has a third potential NSO, Cycling Australia (track and Road) has stated that if it votes "No," it "may move forward with the other two NSOs."