Aussies show grit in tough 2024 Gravel World Championships

The ARA Australian Cycling Team have shown grit and determination as the battled through punctures, crashes and illness in Belgium at the 2024 Gravel World Championships.

Gravel debutant Sarah Gigante was the best-placed Australian rider finishing 24th in the elite women's 135km race from Halle to Leuven, ahead of 2024 Gravel National Champion Courtney Sherwell (28th), Nicole Frain (33rd) and Tiffany Cromwell (36th).

"I had a super fun race out there and came home in 24th place. I was happy with my debut after just a handful of days on a gravel bike," Gigante wrote on Instagram.

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A post shared by Sarah Gigante (@slipstreamsarah)

Despite eventually finishing 33^rd, Frain featured prominently at the front of the race for about 25km where she found herself in a world-class group chasing eventual winner Marianne Vos (NED) and silver medalist Lotte Kopecky (BEL) with about 50km to go.

Frain chopped turns with Romy Kasper (GER), Puck Pieterse (NED), Lorena Wiebes (NED) and Soraya Paladin (ITA) through farmland, forest and urban terrain, to try and bridge to Vos and Kopecky, but to no avail.

And as Kopecky and Vos continued to extend their lead it became clear the Australian would be fighting for the third spot on the podium.

But with 25km to go, the 2022 road national champion from Tasmania couldn’t hold the pace and started to see her hopes of a podium fade away.

“I started to have severe stomach discomfort, and I had to let the group go. This really hurt to watch it ride away. I had to pace myself as best as possible and I hoped that maybe I would hold off the chase,” Frain wrote on Instagram.

“Unfortunately, the course was 5km too long, and I was caught (by the peloton), before then a crash on a small bridge just 3km to the finish blocking all the path. And that’s the race over.

“For me the result of 33rd doesn’t show the day I had and that makes it hard. But I know really I did do amazing in what was a really strong (road) field and this only urges me on for next time.”

One of Australia's pre-race hopes, Cromwell suffered a puncture early on with teammate Neve Bradbury sacrificing her chances to give Cromwell her wheel.

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A post shared by Tiffany Cromwell (@tiffanycromwell)

With more than 250 starters in the elite men’s race on Sunday, it would be a battle for position from the start for the Australian men as they tried to work their way through the field in the 181km race.

But the pace at the front of the race was too hot, with 2023 Road World Champion Mathieu van der Poel adding another world title to his name going on to win the rainbow jersey.

Freddy Ovett was the best of the Australian men, just outside the top 100 in 101^st.

2024 UCI Gravel World Championship results

Elite Women:

1. Mariann Vos (NED), 4:01:07

2. Lotte Kopecky (BEL), 4:01:08

3. Lorena Wiebes (NED), 4:05:04

24. Sarah Gigante (AUS), 4:10:02

28. Courtney Sherwell (AUS), 4:10:18

33. Nicole Frain (AUS), 4:11:10

36. Tiffany Cromwell (AUS), 4:12:19

90. Brianna Samuhel (AUS), 4:50:29

Elite Men:

1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED), 4:41:23

2. Florian Vermeersch (BEL), 4:42:26

3. Quinten Hermans (BEL), 4:45:10

101. Freddy Ovett (AUS) 5:05:56

115. Oliver Stenning (AUS) 5:07:40

144. Benamin Spenceley (AUS) 5:14:54

166. John Davis (AUS) 5:22:12

170. Kobe Henderson (AUS) 5:24:48

171. Thomas Chester (AUS) 5:25:16

173. Nathan Haas (AUS) 5:25:22

181. Matthew Shepherd (AUS) 5:30:19

Main photo: Nicole Frain finished 33rd after being dropped from a strong chasing group with 25km to go. Picture: Velophotovic