Keely Bennett wins women's AusCycling National Road Series

Melbourne’s Keely Bennett (Team BridgeLane) has been crowned the winner of the 2024 AusCycling National Road Series after triumphing at the Tour of Gippsland on Friday.

With her GC victory and four stage podiums in Gippsland, the 21-year-old added to results earlier in the season to take out the individual classification in Australia’s premier domestic road racing series.

Bennett was also the best young rider, while Team BridgeLane won the NRS team’s classification.

Bennett started the Tour of Gippsland fifth overall on the NRS standings, 80 points behind then-leader and teammate Katelyn Nicholson. She had previously earned top-10 results at the Women’s Warrnambool Classic (6th) and Tour de Brisbane (10th), and finished third overall at the Sapphire Tour.

In Gippsland, Bennett stepped up another level. She won the opening stage on Phillip Island in a bunch sprint, then backed it up with three consecutive second-place results. All that meant, factoring time bonuses, she beat Nicholson to the GC victory by 23 seconds.

Bennett in action at the Sapphire Tour. (Auriol Carruthers)

That ensured Bennett, who rides for the Brunswick Cycling Club, leapfrogged up the leaderboard. She has won the last edition of the NRS before it makes way for a new, privately-owned domestic competition, the ProVelo Super League.

“I didn’t expect that going into this race,” Bennett said. “I didn’t even think about the under-23 title, let alone leading the NRS series. It’s great to be the last leader of the NRS series overall.

“I probably owe most of my success to my coach, Nick Owen, whose put heaps of time and effort into making sure I’m doing the right training and consistent training. I’ve really been enjoying riding my bike, which follows with good results.”

It’s Bennett’s second big domestic success this year, adding to the under-23 criterium national title she won in January. Despite her excellent season, she plans to take a break from racing in 2025 to focus on her university degree in communications.

Pat Shaw, manager of the women’s Team BridgeLane since its inception last year, said the riders’ upward trajectory was more important than their outstanding results on the scoresheet.

“I think you have to be realistic about the job we do, which is to develop the best of Australian domestic talent. They all have improved in areas they had to improve in,” he said.

“That’s what’s impressed me most: they’ve worked hard in the areas that they needed to improve in. That’s probably why they’ve been able to be as dominant as they have.”

Team BridgeLane dominated the 2024 NRS. (Tour of Gippsland / Australia Cycling Photography)

Nicholson and Lillee Pollock rounded out the overall NRS podium to complete the Team BridgeLane domination. But, for Shaw, the standout moment was when they failed to win stage three in Gippsland.

“It’s hard to explain, but when you have a great culture, when one person wins, you all win,” Shaw said.

“I probably would suggest that after two years, we finally reached that at the Tour of Gippsland. Not so much the winning part: when we fell short, the girls were actually disappointed as a group that they weren’t able to win.

“That was really satisfying. It sounds strange, but it shows how much it really meant for them. That’s the culmination of two years of success.”

In the men’s NRS, Graeme Frislie (CCACHE x Par Küp) won the individual classification.

Results – 2024 AusCycling National Road Series

Women’s Individual

1. Keely Bennett (Team BridgeLane) – 720 pts
2. Katelyn Nicholson (Team BridgeLane) – 575
3. Lillee Pollock (Team BridgeLane) – 458

Women’s Team

1. Team BridgeLane – 2,379 pts
2. ARA Skip Capital – 469
3. Butterfields Racing – 344

Women's Young Rider

1. Keely Bennett (Team BridgeLane) – 720 pts
2. Lillee Pollock (Team BridgeLane) – 458
3. Odette Lynch (Butterfields Racing) – 289

Feature photo: Tour of Gippsland / Australia Cycling Photography