Cromwell and O’Brien crowned 2025 AusCycling gravel national champions

Tiffany Cromwell and Mark O’Brien have clinched their first elite national titles, taking out a fast and furious 2025 AusCycling Gravel National Championships and the inaugural Ponderosa Pines Gravel Race at Mt Crawford Forest, South Australia.  

An undulating 102km course, offering just under 1200m of elevation gain, and dry and dusty conditions, awaited an impressive elite men’s and women’s field with the pace almost guaranteed to be high from the whistle.  

It was all guns blazing from the start of the men’s race, with a group of about 13 riders pushing away on the first of two 51km laps.  

All the big names were in the thick of the action including defending champion Brendan Johnston (Canberra Cycling Club), 2023 SEVEN gravel race winner Tasman Nankervis (Bendigo & District Cycling Club) and road cycling sprinter Cameron Scott (St George Cycling Club).  

As riders started to look for opportunities to try and make their move on the second lap, last year’s runner-up Mark O’Brien (Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club) rolled the dice and snuck off the front with a bit over 30km to go.  

“I dropped my chain on the first lap and had to chase for about 10km so that had me a bit cooked. We just went so far from the start that it ended up being real attritional out there,” O’Brien said.  

“On the second lap I was looking for a few opportunities. I knew I wasn’t punchy enough to get away from the guys on the kicks on the hills, so I had to find a place on the flat, and got away in the headwind before the last climb. I dropped Iven (Bennett) who was with me, then had a 30km solo effort from then on, so just really trying to push all the sections they were trying to come back at me, and then getting into time trial mode on the long straights where I knew they would hesitate.” 

The strategy worked and O’Brien crossed the line solo in a time of 2:54:03, almost 1 minute ahead of the main bunch. 

Cameron Scott sprinted to silver ahead of Johnston, who rounded out the podium. 

“I’m bloody stoked. I haven't won a national title since I was U17 in 2003 so a fair throwback. Twenty-two years on I finally get to chuck on the green and gold again,” O’Brien said.  

The elite women’s race became a three-way battle between up-and-coming road cyclist Talia Appleton (Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club), seasoned gravel and road professional Tiffany Cromwell (Norwood Cycling Club) and 12-time MTB XCO national champion Rebecca Henderson (Canberra Off Road Cyclists), who was competing in her very first gravel race.  

Cromwell and Henderson were both returning to racing a little over a month after suffering shoulder injuries, but they wasted no time picking up where they left off.  

The pair and Appleton broke away when they were caught by the master’s men about 15km into the race.  

The trio spent the rest of the race with the masters men, and despite attacks and attempts to open up a gap, in the end, the women’s title would come down to a sprint. 

Cromwell used her road experience leading into the finish straight and opened up to sprint away to victory, with Appleton picking up silver and Henderson finishing third.  

“It was a pretty tough race, I was coming back from injury, actually two of us because Bec was too,” Cromwell said.  

“It started when it was just the women, just watching each other but when the men came through you know it’s how it always is, it gets a bit mixed up. 

“There were the three of us, really just none of us could crack each other. It was kind of fun in the last 5 to 10km the boys just let us have our race, which I appreciate that. I definitely didn’t feel amazing, but I can use my road tactical skills, it helps me when it does come down to a sprint. I knew I had to get through those corners first. 

“They tried some attacks first and I just sat there calmly and managed then to do the last attack and hold them off.” 

For Cromwell, it was her first elite national title, and first since her U19 time trial title in 2006.

See the full results here.  

Images: James Raison