The five lead riders are riding well together but they are coming up against some of the age groupers. Fortunately the tracks are wide and there’s plenty of space for the pros.
Hartog and Magnaldi make it back to Klöser, Laing and Vos.
Cromwell is caught and immediately dropped with Hartog and Magnaldi.
Cromwell caught making it a lead group of six riders with 58km to go.
The chasing group of five have closed in on Cromwell rapidly on the Ellis Creek climb, the longest and hardest of the day.
Five riders break clear of the chase group as it splits up on this latest climb. Laing, Vos, Klöser, Magnaldi and Hartog.
Interestingly, Villafañe is out of the back of the chase group alongside Britain’s Johnson. Something must have happened as she looked so strong on the climbs.
Laing and Vos have gapped the rest in the chase showing their descending skills but Cromwell has used the terrain to get her gap back to 1’17” after it dropped to 52″ on the climb.
Now on a very steep and technical descent on this extremely slippery pea gravel. Cromwell just overshot a hairpin and may have lost a couple of seconds.
Now that Klöser is back in the group the Germans return to the front of the chase group with Oosterwoud struggling again.
Cromwell is riding really well and has 1’21” on the chasers with Magnaldi leading the chase group yet again. Klöser gets back in as well.
Now time for the Lewana climb, 1.5km at 5.3%.
The Dutch have numbers but are not chasing with the Germans taking the responsibility through a very rocky and puddle filled section as Cromwell opens her gap to 1’17”.
Meanwhile, Cromwell has 27″ gap on the chase group.
There was a very nasty rut that they hit and it just pushed Schreurs and Moolman-Pasio out with the former kicked to the side and into the rocks. Both look to be out of the race.
Cromwell drags her advantage out to 19″ and is now out of sight from the chase group as the Aussie goes solo in the Worlds, on home soil, in her final race.
Cromwell heads onto the descent, probably the longest downhill of the entire race.
Magnaldi is investing a lot of energy on the front of the favourites group without dropping anyone but they stall again and allow Cromwell a bit more gap.
Vos tried a move but she was heavily marked. Cromwell continues to press on as the chase group starts to sit up a bit more.
Cromwell is leading the chasing group back to the front group as the leader’s pace lulls. That was a big effort from the chasers with Oosterwoud still struggling to hold the wheel but we now have a lead group of around 16 riders.
And the gap is closing. 15″ between the leaders and chasers as riders like Cromwell, Oosterwoud and Flora Johnson (Great Britain) may get back in.
The Shale climb appears to have favoured the chase group as the gap drops to 22″, but this will be based on the motorbikes so we take that gap with a pinch of salt.
Onto Shale climb of 800m at 6.8% which is being done very swiftly as Villafañe and Magnaldi lead the way for now.
The gap between the lead group including Vos, Villafañe, Klöser, Moolman-Pasio and the rest have a minute on the group including Cromwell, Wright and Oosterwoud.
Bit of grass racing turns into mud and then some more traditional looking gravel for a very short period before returning back to the pea gravel very soon.
On the Adina climb now, 1.1km long at 4% average.
Great crowds around the feed area after a period on private land.
Through the feed zone now as multiple riders take on fresh bottles, bars and gels.
Cromwell, Wright, Oosterwoud are now around 45″ down on the leaders.
Wright did all that work on the toughest gradients but has not made the group.
The Dutch still just about have four riders in this select group with Hartog and Geerike Schreurs just holding on.
Cromwell also out of the back with Denmark’s Janni Spangsberg Schori losing tough as well.
Wendy Oosterwoud (Netherlands), Gravel World Series leader, has been gapped just before the hardest section. That is a big surprise.
Klöser flies pass British duo of Nutt and Hermolle as they have to negotiate their way around one of the camera bikes that has got stuck in the mud on the gradients of Brockman.
Wright is ripping this peloton to bits on this climb but Klöser is about to make it back on.
Klöser has fought very well and is about 10″ off the back of the lead group and is picking up riders who are losing touch.
The climb is 2.5km at 8% with kicks well over 15%.
Onto the Brockman climb with Wright and Magnaldi upping the tempo with the rain starting yet again. You won’t win the race here but you can certainly lose it.
Wright, Hartog, Cromwell and Erica Magnaldi (Italy) lead the peloton on this rolling terrain.
Some info coming from the start… The age groupers are heading out in waves now. Some were so keen to ensure a good spot in the start line that they were sitting in the ground with their bikes in their start box well over an hour before their start time.
The sun is back out now but the gravel is very wet and slippy.
Onto the first descent of the day now and the pace shot up to make sure they were in a good position with Vos, Sophie Wright (Great Britain) and Larissa Hartog (Netherlands) leading the way.
Bloor is caught by the Dutch led peloton that has been whittled right down on the first climb.
Inside 1km from the top of the Killarney climb as Bloor holds a very slender lead.
The peloton has shrunk quite a lot on this first climb with Bloor being reeled back in very soon.
Bloor’s gap has now reduced significantly as she continues to tap out a rhythm that suits her but she now just has 30″ on the chasers.
One unexpected rider on the startlist for the elite women was Peta Mullens (Australia) who was expecting to ride the age group of 35-39 but received an email a few days ago saying she will have to race the elite due to rule changes coming into force…
Multiple riders now struggling to hold onto the peloton as Bloor has 1’02” on the pack.
The climb Killarney which is 5.4km of very undulating riding and an average of 3.4% but with some nasty kickers.
Mutsumi Hara (Japan) and Elizabeth Hermolle (Great Britain) early off the back but it is a tough start and there’s a long way to go as the rain begins to fall again.
Mud is already caking the backs of the riders as the riders are on the first climb of the day now.
Bloor’s wheel skipping and skidding all over the place forcing her to freewheel. All the riders have only been able to recon some of the route due to some of the sections being on private property including the first climb of the day.
The peloton hit the gravel and immediately things change as the pace shoots up with the Dutch crowding the front still. 5km to the first climb of the day.
Bloor has a gap of just 12″ on the peloton as the gravel edges closer and closer.
12 riders down as DNFs including Germany’s Romy Kaspar and the Netherlands’ Riejanne Markus.
It is a fast start on the asphalt to begin with the tiny peloton bunched together for the moment but when they hit the gravel it’ll likely immediately split up.
Australian gravel champion and winner here for the SEVEN Gravel race in Nannup earlier in the year, Tiffany Cromwell, is another rider who will be hanging up the wheels after this race.
This will be the final race in the career of South African WorldTour rider Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio despite having a cold.
It is being said that this is a ‘true’ gravel course with 85% of the course on gravel with intense gradients and a huge amount of climbing. The chance for the specialists to finally have a pure gravel rider in the rainbow bands after road stars have dominated the first four editions.
The riders are beginning to line up on the start line in Nannup with Wendy Oosterwoud of the Netherlands wearing number one.
The gravel is like nothing seen in European gravel racing and is unique to the area in Australia. Pea gravel is what it says on the tin, gravel that is shaped like peas. It can been incredibly slippery when dry but when wet it can be compacted down and become less notable with tyre choice being crucial.
The course itself is extremely challenging. While it is rather short, in the 125.6km of racing there are 3180 metres of elevation gain with the climbs not allow immediate rest after the summits are they tend to plateau for a while afterwards.
Racing is due to begin at 10:10 local time in Nannup. Roughly 30 minutes from now.
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live updates of the women’s UCI World Gravel Championships 2026 from Nannup, Western Australia.
The temperatures have been high for much of the week but it is a cool and fresh 16°C, unusually low for spring time in the area.