The Giant Revolt, Ridden by Brendan Jonhston and Mark O’Brien, Goes First and Second at SEVEN Gravel
Image by Daniela Tommasi
Last weekend held a host of exciting rides despite the gloomy weather with local XC events, and UCI World Series races all happening!
SEVEN is a Gravel race held in Nannup WA with 2026 being it’s 8th year running. This race stands out as it is an official UCI World Series Event, meaning that the top riders will be well on their way to the 2026 Gravel World Championships which for this year are being held on the same course as SEVEN, making this race even more important for training and recon.
SEVEN only continues to grow year on year with the starting line on Sunday consisting of over 2,000 riders from almost 30 countries around the world including an impressive swath of former winners, pro riders of all disciplines (and drivers, as Valtteri Bottas made a winning appearance), as well as British cycling media personalities Si and Dan from GCN flying in to race.
Image by Patrick Boere
As could be expected, fierce attacks were made during the 125km course, however, the legs of Brendan Jonhston, Mark O’Brien, and Tasman Nankervis proved superior with the trio peeling off the front. The win was hard fought as O’Brien stayed strong on the climbs with the other two riders pushing to hold the wheel; however, in the final kilometres, Johnston successfully passed Nankervis and O’Brien, the defending champ, to a decisive victory crossing the line with a time of 3:55:56, 7 seconds ahead of O’Brien.
Image by Patrick Boere
Both men were riding the latest Giant Revolt models, once again proving the impressive capabilities of the gravel machine. This marks Johnston’s fifth straight UCI Gravel World Series win with the Giant rider once again showing his dominance. Of the win, Jonhston said "I wanted to get to five of them in a row and it’s where I wanted to do it. I think it's just like the hardest we've got in here in Australia and yeah, it played out just like that”.
The women’s field was no less fierce, with Tiffany Cromwell, the current Aussie Women’s National Champion, taking the win. In a similar fashion to the men’s race, the women's field thinned to three, consisting of Cromwell, Matilda Reynolds, and Maria Laurie. It was in the final lap that Cromwell made a massive push to create a decisive gap between her and the chasing group, which, by the finish, was over 1 minute. This massive solo win had her crossing the line with a time of 4:28:52. When asked about the commanding win, she had this to say: “I haven’t had the best last couple of months, a bit of soul searching, so that definitely helped with the confidence". As she will be preparing for a possible world championship title on the same course in October, she added some insight into her plans “I know we’re going to have a super strong field line up,” she said.
“From the setup to the bike to the pressures, to the training, I know what I need to do.”
Image by Patrick Boere
Congratulations to all those who raced in WA last weekend, and we’re keen to see what the UCI Gravel World Champs will entail on the same course in October!
