Brendan Johnston and Melisa Rollins both delivered their first big gravel wins in the US at the Belgian Waffle Ride Utah over the weekend, with the Australian multi-discipline rider rebounding from a rocky patch while it was a home ground triumph for Rollins as she returned to rougher surfaces after a big road block through the first part of the year.
The 128 mile (206 kilometre) race in the Southern Utah desert starts and finishes in Cedar City, is punctuated by nine road sections which make up just 8% of the race, has 7,500 feet of climbing (2,286 metres), single track, water crossings and often stiff headwinds.
In the men’s race Johnston (Giant Off Road) managed to sail over the line solo in 6 hours 25 minutes and 38 seconds. He was nearly five minutes ahead of Carter Anderson (Ventum Racing/KÜHL) in second and it was another three minutes to Cody Cupp (Reeds Racing p/b Floyd's of Leadville) in third.
Johnston bided his time in the leading group before taking advantage of a crucial climb, topping out at just under 110 miles into the 128 mile race, to make his winning move.
"For me it was a matter of using up the group of five in the long head wind sections, and if I had the legs send it up the main climb of the day from Kanarraville," Johnston told Cyclingnews. "From there it’s possible to make it to the finish. Fortunately I felt great out there and almost got better in the heat, and was able to really put some time in up the climb."
For Johnston, who this season headed over from Australia for his first US gravel season with hopes of a strong showing in the Life Time Grand Prix series, holding that gap to the line meant an extremely welcome first win of the foray. It's a victory that the rider hopes will put him back on track after he was knocked off course at a brutal edition of Unbound and then continued to struggle to deliver on results targets. The multi-discipline rider particularly found the high altitude races a challenge, an arena lacking back in Australia where he has a list of gravel victories that include a national championships and the first edition of the Dirty Warrny.
"The win is special for me," said Johnston. "This has been a season where I have put more investment into than any other and it’s had a tonne of challenges. In the periods where I should have been performing at my best ever I’ve had some of my worst days on the bike. It was essential that I carried on and turned things around."
The Belgian Waffle Ride in California back in April was a race that had delivered a promising start to the US gravel foray for Johnston, with a fourth place, and in Utah the series again delivered the exact result he'd been so determinedly chasing. While the race isn't part of the Life Time Grand Prix, it was a win that delivered the needed boost ahead of the final races of the series – the Chequamegon MTB Festival on September 16, The Rad Dirt Fest on September 30 and finally Big Sugar Gravel on October 21.
"It’s simply huge for my confidence moving into the final 3 rounds of the Life Time GP," said Johnston, who is now sitting in 13th position on the series leader board, with 51 points, 30 of those earned at the Sea Otter Classic - Fuego XL in April before he hit a patch that sent him dropping away from those results that were comfortably in the top ten. Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz) is leading the series on 70 points.
In the women’s category in Utah it came down to Rolins (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24) and Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) early, with the pair riding away from their rivals and then sticking together until the Australian Women’s WorldTour rider hit the deck at about 80 miles into the race.
“I stopped and checked with her to make sure she was ok and then pressed on, and somehow kept a gap on her up and over the final climb of the day,” said Rollins in a video interview on the race Instagram.
Not that this was an easy task as earlier in the day Rollins had crashed in a single track section, bending her derailleur and losing access to her easiest gear.
“I actually had to walk, I was cramping so much,” said the 27 year old rider of her efforts on the final big climb. “I was like ‘oh no this is my day, it’s over.’”
But it wasn’t and Rollins came over the line in seven hours and six minutes, ten minutes ahead of Cromwell who was sporting a messy wound on one knee from the crash after the front wheel washed out around a corner. It was Cromwell's second gravel runner up spot in a week, with the rider also taking silver at SBT GRVL after delivering a long winning streak in the discipline at the season start. Flavia Oliveira Parks (Excel Sports p/b Specialized) took third.
