In the second year of RADL GRVL, Australian champion Brendan Johnston (Giant) turned the tables on 2024 winner Tasman Nankervis (BMC Shimano) while Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) let her racing instinct come to the fore so she could find that extra bit in the final sprint needed to overcome the fatigue of a hectic race.
Cromwell was not only days out from a tough battle at the women's Tour Down Under but also as a co-founder of the event had plenty of other things on her plate. The savvy rider, nevertheless, claimed the win after sprinting to the line with Melisa Rollins. it was Samara Sheppard who came third in the 112km event in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia.
"I didn't have huge expectations if I'm completely honest," Cromwell told Cyclingnews after crossing the line. "But it's weird sometimes, how some days you think you're gonna be great and you feel horrible, then other days when you expect to be bad, you actually feel great, and today was one of those days.
"I've been trying to manage everything and trying to get rest when I can, but I definitely was not fresh coming here. But you know, it's just great to be able to race against the other women and not do a gravel race with our race dictated by the men," continued Cromwell after separate starts were introduced in 2025.
"It was good to have a strong field and somehow I had the legs today."
Rollins, Sheppard and Cassia Boglio (PAS Racing) had attacked over the first climb quickly splitting the group and leaving Cromwell and Australian gravel champion Courtney Sherwell (Santa Cruz SRAM) on the chase with Gina Ricardo (Praties) and Matilda Raynolds (Team SRAM). Raynolds fell away when she 'laid it down' while near the front of the field and last year's runner-up Nicole Frain (Ridley Racing) meanwhile, suffered a mechanical that took her out of the race.
Boglio also ended up dropping away from the lead group and ultimately, it became a two-way race to the line between Cromwell and Rollins.
In the men's 112km event over the varied terrain of hard-packed gravel roads, sandy surfaces and rutted sections, it was an attacking start on the tough early climb, The lead group quickly whittled down to around nine, which included Johnston, Nankervis, O'Brien, Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost), Jack Aitken (St George Continental) and 2024 Melbourne to Warrnambool winner Mark O'Brien (Open Trappist).
Riders fell away, either because of the unrelenting attacks, or perhaps the mechanicals or a crash, Morton for one was sporting a ripped-up patch on the shoulder of his jersey and a bloody finger after he came over the line in 16th.
In the end, it came down to three, Johnston, Mark O'Brien and defending champion Nankervis who had a tight run into the race, so was far from expecting a repeat of his win. Johnston, who hadn't even been sure he'd be ready in time to race after having glandular fever in November, saw an opportunity to go 15km before the line and took it, with confidence built by the damage his previous attacks had already done.
"I just tried full gas with 15k to go," Johnston told Cyclingnews after the line. "There's some rollers and then it's into a road section to the finish so it was like all in there, and kind of see how it goes.
"I was racing quite freely. You know, it's a pretty low pressure this point of the year, and sometimes it's nice to be able to do that, and you can roll the dice a bit more and not stress too much. It was nice to get away and then hold that gap." Johnston will be heading to the United States a little later in the season for another year of racing in the Life Time Grand Prix series.
