It was a near miss for Cameron Scott at the AusCycling Gravel National Championships last year, but on Sunday, he returned to Ponderosa Pines and hit the bullseye.
The road regular, who also turns his hand to track, will now have every incentive to venture out on the gravel on a more regular basis, given he has a green and gold jersey to put on display.
The 28-year-old, who races on the road with Li Ning Star, and previously spent two years in the WorldTour with Bahrain Victorious, carved out a gap on the run to the line, launching early as he shook off the last of the small group of riders remaining out front.
"You had to go full gas from the bottom, but yeah, luckily it was a tailwind," said Scott after claiming the title with a time of 4:03:47 on the entirely gravel 123km course with 1,600m of elevation gain.
Scott crossed the line six seconds ahead of Brent Rees, who earlier this month took seventh at the SEVEN UCI Gravel World Series race in Western Australia. Harrison Bennington was third, a further 7 seconds back.
It was another muddy day of racing, following a wet women's title chase on Saturday won by Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM), and the field progressively thinned as it worked its way through a lap of the 17.5km Western Loop and two laps of the main course.
"I wasn't really sure what to expect today with the conditions, but it was just an elimination race– guys slowly dropping off one by one," Scott told AusCycling. "These guys had me on the climbs, but I just had to measure my effort and come back on the descents. I think we were all pretty gassed, there wasn't many attacks in the end."
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Which turned out to suit Scott. Last year, he had finished behind Mark O'Brien, who had clinched the title with a solo sortie. This year, O'Brien was ninth.
Even though Scott isn't exactly a regular on the gravel circuit, it is a discipline he has been dipping into over several years; in fact, he took second place in Gravelista on the very first year of the UCI Gravel World Series in 2022.
Sunday's gravel victory in South Australia means Scott will hold the Australian title in a year where the nation is also hosting the UCI Gravel World Championships, though the heavy serve of climbs on the 140.7km route with 3,625m of elevation gains may not be so appealing for the sprinter.
Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.
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