Brendan Johnston has quickly made his mark in Australia on return from the United States, where he came fourth overall in the Life Time Grand Prix, winning the elite men's category at the Gravelista round of the UCI Gravel World Series held in Seymour on Sunday.
The Giant rider also swept the other Australian round of the series, SEVEN in Western Australia, earlier in 2024.
It was, on the other hand, a breakthrough gravel win for Talia Appleton with the 19-year-old Team Bridgelane rider having delivered a healthy dose of top 10 results on the road in her first year out of the junior ranks at national level races but after her gravel top step it looks like there will be more races on the agenda in that discipline as well.
Appleton got away in a handy move in the race which ended up being mixed in with the masters men on the road, leaving her rivals behind while Australian gravel champion and also 2023 winner Courtney Sherwell ended a long season when she came over the line more than ten minutes later to take second. Cassia Boglio was third.
Johnston took his second UCI Gravel World Series victory after going clear early with RADL GRVL winner Tasman Nankervis (Merida/BMC Shimano) and Luke Burns (Bridgelane) who won the mountains classification at the Tour Down Under at the start of this year. Johnston got the gap on Nankervis, who came second with Burns taking third.
The 135km Gravelista in the regional Victorian location of Seymour is the second qualifying round for the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships in France, with the European Gravel Championships at the start of October being the first.
There is also another round of the series in Australia on May 17, SEVEN in Nannup. The Western Australian race will also host the UCI Gravel World Championships in 2026.
