Brendan Johnston (Giant-SRAM) confirmed to Cyclingnews today that he will not be on the start line on Friday to defend his title at RADL GRVL p/b Quad Lock due to an ankle injury, leaving the men's field wide open.
Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) will move from her road programme to the gravel race, looking for back-to-back wins, this time against a deep regional field for the official start of global gravel racing, and this year, the inaugural Oceania Gravel Championships.
Johnston just completed a long-distance ride of 3,948.6km across eight days from Perth to Sydney on Sunday, an attempt at a fastest known time that was upended by days of strong winds. He concluded the ride two days longer than expected, and along the way, he strained his achilles.
"Just in terms of getting going again for April and the season in the US, it's just not gonna be a good move to do the race. Unfortunately, missing RADL this time, but I think it's the smart move," Johnston told Cyclingnews.
"The wind was unrelenting. I think pushing into that wind, I just had to push so much harder for a very long period, and I strained my achilles. Touch and go for a bit trying to work through that, just went day by day.
"This ankle injury, we were onto it pretty early and working to recover it as soon as possible. But, yeah, it's necessary to take a week off."
A number of familiar international foes have made the trip to the southern hemisphere to begin the 2026 gravel season, including USA's Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing) and British rider Danni Shrosbree (Rapha Cycling Club).
Top men travelling overseas for debuts at RADL GRVL include , Frenchman Romain Bardet (Factor Racing RCC) and a trio of US veterans - Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE), Dylan Johnson (Felt UN1TD) and Ian Boswell (Wahoo-Specialized). Oceania contender Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA) will also be the top New Zealander on the start line.
Rollins, the 2024 Leadville Trail 100 MTB winner, began her first full season of gravel last year with a runner-up finish in McLaren Vale. She went on to win SBT GRVL, one of three global races operated by GRVL Events, second on GC at Gravel Burn in South Africa and third overall in the Life Time Grand Prix.
"I'm excited for RADL to be my season opener, and I am looking forward to the changes they've made to the course. The field looks deep, and I think it'll be a fun race. I've been feeling good in training this off-season," Rollins told Cyclingnews.
The blue course for this year's long route at RADL GRVL p/b Quad Lock comes in at 126.6km, about 12km longer than last year. There is a total of 2,200 metres of elevation gain, with a steep descent from the climb of Mount Compass that leads to a mix of gravel and pavement for the final 10km back to McLaren Vale.
"So I think a lot of [RADL GRVL] is going to be kind about the finale. There's typically some kind of short climb to a little bit of a technical section, but I think it'll come down to what happens in that final 15k," Vermeulen, a regular top-10 finisher at the Life Time Grand Prix, told Cyclingnews about what he expected from his first outing on gravel in Australia.
"Pretty excited to be back in Adelaide, some of the best riding in the world. It's definitely early season. It's a nice way to kind of test the legs and be motivated."
Vermeulen last raced a bike in Australia at the Tour Down Under in 2017, when he was riding for WorldTour team LottoNL-Jumbo, finishing in the top 10 of the youth classification at age 22 alongside Ben O'Connor (now Jayco-AlUla) and Marc Soler (now UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Other former WorldTour men who last competed in Australia with road teams included Boswell, with Team Sky in 2016 at the Herald Sun Tour, and Bardet, with AG2R La Mondiale in 2020 at the Tour Down Under. Boswell said he added RADL GRVL to his full-time job commitments with Wahoo as the global athlete manager. It was alluring to race in summer weather, he said, away from snow in New England.
"I'll be doing work with the WorldTour teams who will be racing at TDU. I hope to get in some riding, but by the day my work calendar keeps filling up," he admitted. "I'll see what I can do against those who have been in summer versus a Vermont winter. No excuses. I love the challenge."
Cromwell makes a second appearance in less than a week for racing around McLaren Vale and the region, rich with vineyards. She was part of the Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto squad that completed the three-day women's Tour Down Under, with Justyna Czapla earning the youth classification win. She is expected to take part in the Tour Down Under Women's One Day Race on Wednesday, two days prior to the gravel race.
Cromwell, the co-founder of RADL GRVL with Valtteri Bottas and Amy Charity, will wear the gravel national champions jersey this year. She called this year's third edition "a defining moment of the Australian gravel season", as the Oceania Championships join Europe and Africa with a regional competition for elite riders and also provide more opportunities for emerging local talent on a global scale.
The Oceania Gravel Championships are part of an expanded calendar for the off-road discipline in Australia, hosting three rounds of the UCI Gravel World Series and capped by the UCI Gravel World Championships on October 10-11 in Western Australia. Of the three races in the World Series, which serve as qualifiers for the Worlds, Gravelista was part of the early cross-over calendar and saw Johnston win his second title in Seymour, Victoria.
Australian women to watch unseat Cromwell include Nicole Frain (Factor Racing), Peta Mullens (Tango Racing), and three of the top four riders from Gravelista - runner-up Sophie Byrne (Trek Schwalbe), third-placed Ella Bloor (SRAM Australia) and Karla Bell.
From New Zealand, Samara Sheppard is expected to be in the mix for the RADL GRVL podium again; she was third last year, as well as the Continental jersey. Sharlotte Lucas, who won Gravelista for elite women, is the reigning cyclocross and criterium champion for New Zealand but will not be on the start list Friday.
Tasman Nankervis (Rapha Cannondale Shimano), the 2024 winner and last year's runner-up, reigning gravel national champion Mark O'Brien (Trappist), who was third last time out at the McLaren Vale race, and the ever-dangerous Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost) are the top Australian riders for the elite men's race.
Unbound Gravel 200 winner Jones tops the list of New Zealanders in the elite men's field. He earned a wildcard entry into the Life Time Grand Prix invitation-only field with the Unbound victory and went on to wild success in the remaining four series races to capture the overall title. Jones' last gravel race, Zero Gravel, was a month after the Grand Prix finale at Big Sugar in Arkansas, and he won the 248km event in New Zealand.
Elite men take the course at 7:30 a.m. local time on Friday, with the elite women starting five minutes later. Updates will be posted to SBT GRVL social channels and live timing will be available on the event website.
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