Brendan Johnston (Giant Australia) and Courtney Sherwell posted the fastest finish times in the elite men's and elite women's categories of Australia's newest gravel event, the 246km Dirty Warnie, Melbourne to Warrnambool wrote a new page in cycling history.

Johnston, the 2020 Melbourne to Warrnambool road race winner and reigning Australian gravel champion, pulled away from his fellow lead trio to win in a time of 7 hours, 20 minutes, and 27 seconds. 2nd place went to Curtis Dowdell ( Butterfields) and third was Mark O'Brien (InForm TMX Make).

Johnston, Dowdell, and O'Brien were in contention for the podium when they caught up with and overhauled Jensen Plowright (Groupama-FDJ Continental) and Jack Aitken (Pana Organic x Pedla), who had broken away in the first few kilometers of the race. overhaul, he was in a position to challenge for the podium.

In the elite women's category, Sherwell never finished within striking distance. Sherwell opened a 10-minute gap on her nearest rival, Kate Kellett, on the climb up the Norman Track at the 77km mark. By the time they left Mount Dewnd Estate near Geelong and crossed the finish line on the shores of Warrnambool in 8:32:13, the gap to Kellett in second place was nearly 40 minutes. Lisa Jacob was another nine minutes back in third place.

Sherwell is used to gravel racing from Melbourne to Warrnambool.

Still, the Dirty Warnie was a very different experience from the 155.7 km road race, and also very different from the Australian gravel races, which are usually around 100 km. Sherwell had never ridden 246 km before, nor had he been on a bike for such a long time.

"I didn't know how my body would react, how it would cope, or if my nutrition plan would be efficient," Sherwell told Cycling News after his win. It was an unknown."

But the 34-year-old's predicament came when she was in known territory in the first 100 km.

After the mass start, she not only started out hard trying to hold on in a large group of elite men, but also because she decided to push to get through the first feeding zone. This maneuver was planned after he had a run-in with two rivals while refueling in the feeding zone at the UCI Gravel World Series in Beechworth in September, where he came in third.

"By the time we stopped at the second feeding zone, it was like I had a second wind and I was able to keep turning with everyone and keep pushing the group. The more I couldn't see the other racers coming up behind me, the more energy I had to keep going and keep pushing."

Victoria had had enough rain and flooding, but the nice southern hemisphere spring weather returned, drying the roads and keeping the speed up. Mitch Docker, retired from the World Tour, finished in 16th place and was in the back of the elite men's field.

In the short 140 km competition from Forest to Warrnambool, Fiona Morris was first in the women's elite category, Stephanie Hibbert second, and right behind her was Grace Brown, who had just returned from a season-ending rest and started the new year ( FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope) followed. In the elite men's race, 18-year-old Harry Wilen set the fastest time, followed by Wayne Collins and Elliott Smith. However, it was actually Eddie Worrall and Matt Burchell in the Sports category who set the fastest time, finishing more than 12 minutes ahead of Willen in 4 hours, 11 minutes, and 26 seconds.

Reminiscent of the early days of the Melbourne to Warrnambool race, which began in 1895, the first edition of the gravel Dirty Warnie was 84% unsealed and had over 3,000 meters of climbing.

Starting near Geelong, the riders headed through Dean's Marsh and into the lush Otways Forest. They then headed to the mountain biking town of Forest. This is also the starting point for the 140 km event.

After leaving Otways, riders will pass through the town of Simpson, over the rolling hills of Heytesbury, into Timboon, and finish on the foreshore of the Victorian coastal town of Warrnambool. The event fills a hole in the Australian gravel calendar, and organizers hope it will become a monument to gravel.