Justine Barrow and Connor Sens claim Australian Gravel titles

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After a cold 106km on the remote scenic roads of north-eastern Tasmania, Justine Barrow (Roxsolt Liv SRAM) and Connor Sens (St George Cycling) claimed victory at the AusCycling Gravel National Championships, both heading over the Branxholm finish line solo after the ascent heavy course split the field apart.

For Barrow, it was her second time standing on the podium of a national championships – having come second at Road Nationals in 2020 – though now having claimed the jersey at the Devil's Cardigan the 44 year old will get to put it to good use. 

"I'll be really proud to take the green and gold jersey back to the US and display it to the gravel world," said Barrow, who is almost immediately returning to the United States to continue tackling some of the toughest gravel races on the calendar.

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Barrow, who last year took out the Beechworth Gravelista round of the UCI Gravel World Series and has been a podium regular so far in the US, finished in 4 hours and one minute. She completed the course just a little over one minute ahead of teammate Peta Mullens – who has a hefty haul of national titles across road, cyclocross and mountain bike racing –  after dropping Mullens on the final climb, roughly five kilometres from the line. Cassia Boglio (Pedalare) came over the line in third.

Sens took the men's victory in 3:36:01 with the rider from Bendigo accelerating away from mountain biker Alex Lack. Lack finished three minutes back after having escaped with Sens on the last climb but then got hit by cramps.

The race which started in Derby, had three main climbs – Mutual Valley (8.3km at 4.2%), then Ralph Falls 10.7km at 5% and the un-named climb of hell (3.5km at 8.1%) – but there was also a final nasty pinch peaking in the final kilometres before the line.

"That was so hard out there, especially the last 5kms, that climb," said Sens in an interview straight after the line put out on the Devil's Cardigan Instagram story. "There were some strong guys out there and at the start I was hurting so much that I wasn't even sure if I was even going to make it through the day ... I did not expect this."

Scott Bowden, who represented Australia in both the road and mountain bike race at the Rio Olympics, finished third, charging over the line just ahead of Reece Tucknott.

Newly crowned champions Sens and Barrow succeed 2022 Australian Gravel Championship winners Brendan Johnston, who is currently racing gravel in the United States, and mountain bike rider Holly Harris.

The location and timing of the race, in the southernmost state of Australia during winter, always meant that it was going to prove a contrast to last year's Noosa race, held in the milder temperatures of Queensland.

In 2023 the temperature stood at 3°C when the race rolled out into the mist early on Saturday, but as the riders pushed on through the Devil's Cardigan course of temperate rainforest, waterfalls, low alpine shrubs and wide stretches of farmland the mist burned off to deliver a clear, sunny but still crisp, blue skied backdrop.

The competitors were faced with roads that had held up relatively well given the rain that had come before the event, but there was still mud being flicked up as they tackled the course with more than 2,300m of vertical ascent.