Brendan Johnston and Holly Harris sprint to Gravel National Championship wins

A sprint finish was needed to decide the winners of the Elite Men and Elite Women's 2022 AusCycling Gravel National Championships in Tewantin, Queensland.

Brendan Johnston and Holly Harris would claim the green and gold elite jersey after a long day in the saddle battling the wet and the mud.

After 110km through the Noosa Hinterland it came down to just 20 meters of the finishing straight to decide the gold medal.

An emotional Harris, whose last Australian title came at the 2019 Marathon National Championships also in Queensland was speechless after crossing the line in top spot.

“I’ve never won a sprint in my life. I’ve no idea how I did that.

“I felt so good,” she said after having competed in the marathon cross country Noosa Enduro 100 on the Saturday.

Harris crossed the line in 3:54:11 a bike length ahead of Gina Ricardo and Rebecca Locke who picked up the minor medals.

Johnston who also backed up from his win in the Noosa Enduro marathon a day earlier, added another national title to his already impressive cycling resume.

The Canberran beat home Matthew Bird and Tasman Nankervis for the gold in a time of 3:20:44.

The four-time marathon national champion admitted to playing the game in the tough conditions, doing as little as possible up the front of the pack.

“I was just following Tas and he didn’t die wondering.”

“I told my coach that I was going for these national championships and having done a marathon the day before, I'm so glad we could pull it off.”

National Championship categories were contested up to the Masters 9 category.

All National Championship race results can be found here.

Main Photo Credit: Alex Polizzi