Brendan Johnston (Giant) and Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) both sailed through the Nannup finish line at the SEVEN gravel race to add to their win tally at the Western Australian UCI Gravel World Series event.
In the elite men’s race Johnston, also the winner in 2024, crossed the line after 3:55:56 with a seven second gap to 2025 winner Mark O’Brien (Trappist), who made the most of his climbing strength during the race but was distanced on the run to the line. Harrison Bebbington (Maxxis Flanders Racing), who had been part of the leading trio which formed in the second half of the race, took third at the event which gave riders a taste of the terrain on offer for the Gravel World Championships there on October 10-11.
“I just kind of like played it calm and I was like, ‘I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get rid of these girls’, but step by step, one would drop, one would drop and then I started feeling stronger, tried to put little subtle moves on the flats without proper attacks, but just trying to like make it hurt.”
The 125km SEVEN course started and finished in Nannup, running through the Blackwood Valley and packing in more than 3,000m of vertical ascent along the way on the course which is more than 80% gravel.
More to come …
Results
|
Position |
Rider |
Time |
|
1 |
Brendan Johnston |
3:55:56 |
|
2 |
Mark O’Brien |
+07 |
|
3 |
Harrison Bebbington |
+29 |
|
Position |
Rider |
Time |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Tiffany Cromwell |
4:28:52 |
|
2 |
Maria Laurie |
+2:30 |
|
3 |
Matilda Raynolds |
+2:31 |