Brendan Johnston and Talia Appleton claimed their victories at the UCI Gravel World Series round in Devils Cardigan, Tasmania. Johnston completed the men's 106km race in 3 hours and 24 minutes, finishing just over three minutes ahead of Tasman Nankervis. Talia Appleton won the women's race in 4 hours and 3 minutes, holding off new gravel champion Tiffany Cromwell, who suffered a flat tire. The race, held under sunny yet cool conditions, featured a course with mostly unpaved roads and significant elevation gain.
Johnston finished the 106km men's race in three hours and 24 minutes to snag the winner's trophy - a sack of potatoes and handmade wooly cardigan winners to keep the celebrating riders warm at the pub in Derby on Saturday evening.
Appleton won the women's race in four hours and three minutes, holding off the charge of the nation's new gravel champion Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto). Cromwell finished around four minutes back, having been out front with Appleton but then had a puncture around half way through.
The race, which hosted the Australian Gravel Championships the past two years and in 2025 joined the UCI Gravel World Series, played out in sunny conditions although it was still a cool and misty start for the event in the southernmost state of Australia.
'Big congrats to Talia Appleton on the win. Strong ride and was pushing me a lot when we were together,' said Cromwell in a post on social media. 'In the end she was too strong for me to be able to catch back after my flat and took a well deserved win.'
Collection
[
|
...
]