UCI Gravel World Series – Australian champions Mark O’Brien and Tiffany Cromwell win Western Australia’s SEVEN

Mark O’Brien (Trappist) and Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) claimed victory at SEVEN on Saturday, with the Australian gravel champions both getting the better of powerful home-state contenders, Mark Chong and Cassia Boglio (PAS Racing), during the final stages of the 126km Western Australian UCI Gravel World Series round.

O’Brien used his climbing prowess to shake Chong in the final ten kilometres, crossing the line solo in the small town of Nannup after 4 hours, five minutes and 20 seconds with the Western Australian a little over half a minute behind. It was then Brendon Davids (Brennan) who took third ahead of 2023 winner Tasman Nankervis (Cannondale-Rapha-Camelback-Shimano).

It was, however, the tightest of battles for Cromwell and Boglio with the experienced WorldTour rider having being distanced by her and Talia Appleton (Praties) early in the race but, with unrelenting persistence, pulling Boglio back within the final five kilometres. 

The crowds waiting at the line had been anticipating a home-state win, with the last reports from the course having put Boglio in the lead with a few minutes gap, but it was then 2023 winner Cromwell that sprinted across the line in four hours, thirty nine minutes and forty six seconds to take her first victory in green and gold. She beat Boglio by just one second, relegating her to the runner-up spot for a third year in a row. Appleton, who last weekend won the Devils Cardigan ahead of Cromwell, was third.

“Very unexpected,” said Cromwell in an interview with race commentator Jethro Nagle, as she was still breathless and warding off cramps straight after crossing the line. “I felt so bad out there.

“I was dropped on the first main climb. The two girls went away and somehow I found some legs and just got into pursuit mode. I caught Talia and I thought ‘ok cool, I’m in it for the second’ and then I did not expect to catch Casia and it was literally in the single track that we came together.”

The 126km race with 3,365m of elevation gain runs on gravel roads that venture into the forested territory around Nannup and wind through the Blackwood Valley on a course where there is barely a patch of paved road to be found but plenty of dramatic views.

There were thirteen categorised climbs on the route, ranging from category 5 to category 3, varying in length from 1.2km to 4.5km and with gradients that at times touch 20%.

O’Brien claimed his victory be making the best of those climbs, with the already whittled down group of around a dozen stripped down to a core group of four after the category three Ellis Creek climb with 40km to go. Nankervis looked to be the only one that could match O’Brien on the climbs initially, but Chong and Davids kept fighting back on the downhills.

Finally O’Brien managed to shake Nankervis, but then it was the 2023 and 2024 runner-up Chong who came across and attempted to stick to his wheel. O’Brien’s push in the final ten kilometres, which includes the category 5 Killarney climb, was finally enough for the Australian champion to make a solo break that stuck to the end.

More than 1,600 riders took part in the event, which had distances ranging from 126km to 24km, and has been a qualifying race for the UCI Gravel World Championships ever since the Gravel World Series began in 2022. The Western Australian event will host the rainbow race in 2026.