The dust is settling after the first edition of the Sutton Grange Winery Uncorked Gravel 2024 .
A challenging full gravel course, a hefty prize purse and a slot on the calendar that provided another handy hit out right before many of the nation's top riders in the discipline head overseas – it is no surprise that even in its first edition the Sutton Grange Winery Uncorked Gravel pulled in a healthy dose of Australia’s top performers.
The fact that the race was near Bendigo also probably didn't hurt, given the region has emerged as a hotspot for producing top contenders in the discipline. Those that call the Victorian regional city home include Australian champion Connor Sens, 2022 Dirty Warrny winner Courtney Sherwell and RADL GRVL victor Tasman Nankervis. The trio also all swept up a UCI Gravel World Series round win each in 2023.
Fair to say that meant there were always going to be a few home town favourites at the Bendigo and District Cycling Club event but that certainly wasn’t the end of the contenders list. Two-time UCI series round winner Adam Blazevic was also among those on the start line, along with 2024 Melbourne to Warrny winner Mark O’Brien, Movistar eTeam and gravel rider Tilly Field and even four-time Australian cyclocross champion Chris Jongewaard.
As the field rolled out from the winery and surrounding grapevines on Sunday morning, the calm of the neutral rollout and rolling green hills quickly gave way to charged race action with riders not even waiting till the first of three laps in the 94.4km event was over to unfurl the moves.
Of course the terrain also played a part with patches that included exposed rocks, eroded ruts and soft sandy edges to throw up a technical challenge, particularly to those who were more accustomed to riding the paved roads. In fact even those who were in familiar territory weren't immune, with Sens falling prey to punctures and Nankervis finally forced to drop away from the lead group after a rock flicked up and hit his derailleur. That left the rider, who clearly entered the race as one of the key favourites, churning away on one gear most of the race and even then he still managed to come fourth.
A pothole and dislodged chain also left Tilly Field with a chase back to the lead women’s group and while she rejoined, it was too late to do anything about Sherwell’s race winning attack. Sherwell, who had been so pivotal in the organisation of the race may have been focussed on course set up duties but on Saturday but was in race mode on Sunday, sticking to her pre-race plan of riding away on what many riders described as ‘that first techy section’ to deliver an emphatic solo victory. Field then sprinted to claim second more than four minutes later, beating Celestine Frantz to the line.
It wasn’t quite a local winner for the men’s elite race, though a welcome one nonetheless, with a rider who is always strong but not particularly accustomed to throwing his hands up after a win getting a little more practice at the victory salute. Warrny winner O’Brien claimed his second race in as many weeks when he again hit out solo. The move distanced strong local Tali Lane-Welsh, who came second, and Blazevic, who captured the final podium spot.
Photographers Henry Yates and Jean-Pierre Ronco were out on course to capture all the action.
Courtney Sherwell testing the waters pre-race (Image credit: Jean-Pierre Ronco / Image Writer Photography)Out of the sun for rider instructions, delivered in the cool of the winery itself (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)Men's elite rolling out through neutral, with the small paved section covered in water the only spot on the course that wasn't gravel (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)The vines disappearing into the dust with Chris Jongewaard, Mitch Docker, Sam Eddy, Connor Sens, Tali Lane-Welsh and Adam Blazevic lining the front row (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)Ingo the trees and surrounding rolling hills and out to the race loop (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)Australian champion Sens was a regular near the front until a puncture flattened his race (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)Once the technical section early in the first loop arrived, with a short climb with exposed rock and eroded sections and loose edges on the descent, the action began in both the men's and women's race (Image credit: Henry Yates/ 6ft8photographer))Tali Lane-Welsh was on the move early in the men's race, alert and aware at the point when the terrain toughened. The chase back up to the CommTel Coast Off Road team rider started to expose splits in the field (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)That same section also led to the formation of a lead group of four in the women's elite race on the first lap, with Celestine Frantz, Imol Giusti and Courtney Sherwell (pictured) but also initially Tilly Field who had to stop when her chain was dislodged after she hit a pothole (Image credit: Jean-Pierre Ronco / Image Writer Photography)It was a chase back to the lead group for Field but by the time she had rejoined on the second lap, Sherwell had already made her move (Image credit: Jean-Pierre Ronco / Image Writer Photography)Sherwell was out front alone for more than half the race (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)The chase of Field and Frantz with Giusti tucked in behind (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)The attrition and mechanicals had whittled the leaders in the men's race down from a group of about ten to five, with Tasman Nankervis, Adam Blazevic, Mark O'Brien, Lane-Welsh and Joel Green out front (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)Green and Nankervis, with his rock struck broken derailleur, fell away from the lead group leaving three to sort out the podium through the final kilometres, with this long shot from the line showing O'Brien having broken away and distancing Blazevic, who is on the build to his key European goals in the coming months, and Lane-Welsh (Image credit: Jean-Pierre Ronco / Image Writer Photography)Another solo victory for O'Brien who may not have been strictly a local but was a popular winner just the same, having strong ties to the local cycling community after calling the regional city home in his student days (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)The men's elite top 3 with O'Brien first, Lane-Welsh second and Blazevic third (Image credit: Henry Yates / 6ft8photographer)A solo win for Sherwell, who had clearly poured everything into the race, pushing right to the line (Image credit: Jean-Pierre Ronco / Image Writer Photography)“It actually probably meant more than I realised. Putting so much time and effort into helping plan this event, wanting it to run well, the racing side of it was probably a little bit secondary but now that I’m here and I managed to put in a good solid ride … it means a lot,” said Sherwell, the emotion clearly welling as she sat and reflected on the day in the shade of the winery lawn after the race (Image credit: Jean-Pierre Ronco / Image Writer Photography)It came down to a sprint for second and third between Field and Frantz, with the Movistar rider who will soon head to Spain to race on the gravel taking the runner up spot (Image credit: Jean-Pierre Ronco / Image Writer Photography)Fourth for Giusti, just a little behind Field and Frantz (Image credit: Jean-Pierre Ronco / Image Writer Photography)
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