David Sanders (cyclist)
David James Sanders (born 1954), commonly known as Dave Sanders, is an Australian former racing cyclist and cycling coach. After competing in road and track cycling, Sanders became a prominent figure in Australian rider development. He spent 26 years at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS), where he served as head cycling coach and worked with riders including Cadel Evans, Baden Cooke, Simon Gerrans, Simon Clarke and Brett Lancaster.
Sanders also held national coaching and selection roles with Cycling Australia, including as Australian junior men's road coach. He later joined the Australian WorldTour team Orica-Scott in a coaching and mentoring role.
Sanders was named Victorian Coach of the Year for cycling in 1996 and 2011. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours for service to cycling.
Early life and cycling background
Sanders grew up in a family closely associated with the Hawthorn cycling community in Melbourne. His father, Ted Sanders, served as president and handicapper of the Hawthorn cycling club. Historical material relating to the Hawthorn Velodrome identifies both David and his older brother John as riders at the track and includes them in a photograph of a race being started by their father.
Sanders subsequently competed in road and track cycling at state and national level.
Racing career
Sanders competed extensively in Australian track and road cycling during the 1970s and 1980s.
Austral Wheelrace
One of Sanders' major individual victories came in 1978 when he won the Austral Wheelrace at Coburg, riding from a handicap of 50 metres.
The Austral, first held in the nineteenth century, became particularly significant to the Sanders family when David's son Ben later won the event in 2009.
Partnership with Murray Hall
Sanders formed a successful track partnership with fellow Australian cyclist Murray Hall during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The pair won the Launceston Six-Day in 1979 and successfully defended the title in 1980. They also won the Australian Madison Championship together in 1980.
Coaching career
Following his competitive career, Sanders became increasingly involved in coaching and athlete development. His career eventually encompassed state institute, national-team and professional cycling programs.
Victorian Institute of Sport
Sanders spent 26 years at the Victorian Institute of Sport, serving as head coach of its cycling program.
During his tenure he worked with a generation of Australian cyclists who subsequently achieved international success. The VIS identifies Cadel Evans, Baden Cooke, Simon Gerrans, Simon Clarke and Brett Lancaster among the prominent cyclists Sanders worked with during his time at the institute.
The VIS also identifies former Australian road cyclist Anna Wilson as a rider coached by Sanders.
Sanders' role centred particularly on the development of emerging riders and the transition from junior and state-level cycling into national and international competition.
His association with Gerrans continued later in Gerrans' professional career. In 2016, Gerrans prepared for his prospective eleventh Tour de France by undertaking altitude training with Sanders.
Australian national teams
Alongside his work with the Victorian Institute of Sport, Sanders held a number of coaching, selection and management positions within Australian cycling.
Sanders served as the Australian junior men's road coach. Cycling Australia's 2011 annual report listed him as national junior men's road coach and as a road national selector for the under-19 men's program.
He continued in the position during the following seasons. At the 2012 UCI Road World Championships, Sanders coached the Australian junior men's road team, which included Caleb Ewan, Damien Howson, Jay McCarthy and other emerging Australian riders.
At the 2011 junior world championships, Sanders was the Australian junior men's road coach when David Edwards won a medal in the junior individual time trial.
At the 2012 road world championships in the Netherlands, Sanders coached an Australian junior men's team whose results included Ewan's silver medal in the road race.
Sanders continued as men's junior road coach and national selector into 2013.
Development teams
Sanders also managed Australian development and composite teams in major domestic races.
He was a long-serving sports director of the UniSA-Australia team at the Tour Down Under. In 2014, Cyclingnews described Sanders as one of Australian cycling's most credentialed coaches and credited him with playing an integral role in the development of young Australian riders into professional cyclists.
Sanders also managed Australia's under-19 team during its international season.
His work placed him across several stages of the Australian development pathway, from state institute programs through junior national teams and opportunities for young riders to compete against professional fields.
Orica-Scott
Sanders later moved into Australia's professional WorldTour structure.
In late 2016, Orica-Scott announced that Sanders and former Cycling Australia high-performance director Kevin Tabotta had joined its staff. Sanders was appointed to a coach and mentor role, with the team describing the appointments as part of an expansion of its operations as it developed its young riders and Grand Tour program.
The appointment extended Sanders' involvement in Australian rider development from junior and institute-level programs into the country's leading professional road team.
Coaching legacy
Sanders became particularly associated with the development and mentoring of young Australian road cyclists.
In reporting on the 2009 Austral Wheelrace, Cyclingnews described Sanders as a key figure in Australian cycling and identified him as a mentor to world champion Cadel Evans and Grand Tour stage winner Simon Gerrans.
The Victorian Institute of Sport later described Sanders as a successful former head coach and highlighted the breadth of elite Australian cyclists with whom he had worked during his 26 years at the institute.
His national coaching work also placed him alongside emerging riders who later became prominent professionals. At the 2012 junior world championships, for example, Sanders coached the Australian junior men's road team that included Caleb Ewan.
Sanders was named Victorian Coach of the Year for cycling in 1996. Fifteen years later, in 2011, he received the award for a second time.
Family
Cycling has extended across several generations of the Sanders family.
Sanders' father, Ted Sanders, was involved in the administration and organisation of cycling at Hawthorn, serving as club president and handicapper. David's older brother John also competed at Hawthorn.
Both of Sanders' sons, subsequently competed in cycling.
Ben Sanders competed internationally as a junior cyclist. He was a junior world championship silver medallist and held a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship. In 2009, Ben won the Austral Wheelrace, following his father's victory in the event 31 years earlier. Contemporary Cyclingnews coverage described the father-and-son victories as the first such combination in the then 112 editions of the event. The official history of the Austral also identifies Ben as the son of 1978 winner Dave Sanders.
Rick Sanders also competed in Australian cycling. He won the Melbourne Cup on Wheels and national championship titles.
Honours and recognition
Sanders was named Victorian Coach of the Year for cycling in 1996 and again in 2011.
In the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours, Sanders was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division for service to cycling.
He has continued to be recognised within Australian cycling following his formal coaching career. The 2025 Austral Wheelrace program listed him as "David Sanders OAM" and noted his status as a dual Victorian Coach of the Year.
Major results
1978
- 1st Austral Wheelrace
1979
- 1st Launceston Six-Day, with Murray Hall
1980
- 1st Launceston Six-Day, with Murray Hall
- 1st Australian Madison Championship, with Murray Hall
Awards
1996
- Victorian Coach of the Year – Cycling
2011
- Victorian Coach of the Year – Cycling
2017
- Medal of the Order of Australia – for service to cycling