The 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships in the Netherlands delivered a gruelling race where positioning was key to be in the hunt for the rainbow jersey.
ARA Australian Cycling Team riders were pushed to their limit on the technical and fast course in South Limburg.
In the elite women’s 131-kilometre race on Saturday Australia’s Nicole Frain and Tiffany Cromwell were caught in a split when the dominant Dutch team attacked off the front.
Tight corners through farmland, forests, and paths made it difficult to reel back the lead riders.
Fighting all the way to the finish line, Cromwell would ultimately finish 22nd, two and a half minutes behind winner Lorena Wiebes (NED), with Frain crossing in 26th.
“It was a classic (race). If you weren’t in the top 10 all day, it was such a rubber band. It just kills you” Cromwell said post-race.
"It’s just the nature of the course. If you ride it by yourself its easy, if you ride it in a bunch it’s a different story.
“It was fun, it was just suffering.”
Three Australians - Thomas Chester, Declan Irvine and Connor Sens - lined up to battle the best in the world in the elite men’s 181-kilometre race.
With 250-plus riders on the start line, positioning would again be vital.
The first attacks came early in the race with 120-kilometres to go. Belgium’s Florian Vermeersch went on to win the attritional race with Sens finishing 164th and Irvine coming in 167th.
Chester made it to 146-kilometres after getting ill.
More than 40 Australians also competed in the age category raced with Bradley Mills the best-placed Australian finishing fourth in the men’s 50-54 group.
See the full results here.