When Australia became one of the early arrivals on the scene with a national championships, in what was then largely an informal and grass roots discipline, there was little chance to show off the gravel jersey and even less of a pathway to bigger things. The growth in the arena, however, has changed all that.
That is why claiming the top step of the podium during the Australian Gravel National Championships at the Devil's Cardigan event on a chilly Tasmanian winter's day in June, 2023, delivered somewhat of a crossroads for Connor Sens.
Gravel became another cycling avenue with serious potential for the rider from Bendigo, who had previously been more focussed on the road in a racing journey which seriously took hold when Sens was on a family holiday to Europe. The local racer, who was still in the junior ranks at that point had dragged along his bike and tried out the Belgian and Dutch racing scene. From then, racing on the road at home in Australia, as well as Asia and Europe, became a regular fixture.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and restricted travel and racing for Australian based riders, a new cycling interest started to germinate.
“Just when it (the pandemic) all started I bought a gravel bike … and through all the lockdowns I was just going for big long rides, finding new spots and doing a lot of bike packing, because there wasn’t a lot of work happening either, and I developed a love for it,” said Sens.
The gravel exploration had started, though for some time the road racing still remained the focus, with Sens again heading over to Europe to take on a series of UCI races in both 2021 and 2022, Still he never took his eye off the potential that the growing pathway of gravel could hold.
“I always had it in the back of my mind, even when I was in Europe, that I loved the idea of what the gravel privateers were doing… I loved the idea of attracting financial sponsors, choosing a calendar, choosing your races, where you travel and working with all the brands that you like and running the set up that you want to ride.”
Sens first race in the discipline was the Harcourt North Gravel Classic in 2021. That race at the Bendigo District Cycling Club – a popular event, with a solid field at an active club which has spawned a number of World Tour riders – was just the beginning of his build in gravel momentum.
Carving out a life as a gravel privateer
The 24 year old, who this year has raced with St George Continental Cycling, quickly worked up to delivering more and more gravel results toward the top of the board. He was seventh in the first edition of the 246km Dirty Warrny in 2022 and then sixth at the SEVEN UCI Gravel World Series event in Nannup, Western Australian in May of 2023.
“At that point when I first started going well in the gravel I was unsure whether to stay on the road or not because it is a lot of work to say 'I’m going to move from the road and more towards the gravel and attract a lot of sponsors',” said Sens.
“But then as soon as I won the National Championships I got a lot of messages and a lot of support and I was like, well if it is going to take off some time, then now is the time.”
Sens had accelerated away from mountain biker Alex Lack to claim the green and gold jersey of the national champion, wearing a look of happy disbelief as he crossed the finish line in Branxholm, in north east Tasmania. The rider had been training as much as possible but – focussed on the final stages of his now finished carpentry apprenticeship – not as much as he had wanted so had not gone into the race expecting such a good outcome. Regardless of the less than perfect run, he'd managed to achieve a result that was enough to launch him to new gravel heights.
With the momentum that gave him Sens put together a team that included Ekoï Cycling, Cervelo Australia & New Zealand, Creative Carbon, Burgh Cycling, Knog and Premax as he prepared for a step into the life of a gravel privateer.
2024 will, of course, be the first full season of this new gravel focussed existence for Sens but the back end of 2023 still delivered some big gravel races and with it the chance to demonstrate to his supporters just what they had signed on for. He competed in his first UCI Gravel World Championships, coming 100th as he fought for position in his first rainbow jersey race. Then there was one of the first World Championships qualifying events in the 2024 UCI Gravel World Series, Gravelista in Beechworth in late October.
That was the first big gravel race where Sens would get to pin on a number on home soil in the green and gold stripes, a potentially nerve-racking experience. Still it was one that he was determined not to let get the better of him, taking the advice of Peta Mullens – who has claimed 12 national titles across the disciplines – that if you relax you will go a lot better.
“So I was thinking all I wanted to do is relax and hope it goes well and not let it bother me,” said Sens, although it can’t have been an easy task given the stakes. “I wanted to get at least one win and just to prove that I deserved it (the national jersey) and that it wasn't a fluke and to do it at probably the next biggest race for 2024 in Australia was super good.”
That goal achieved, with Sens taking the win solo in Beechworth with a gap of nearly a minute to his nearest rival, the rider now heads into a new season having already delivered for his sponsors and with a world of opportunity opening up.
Sens will begin to explore further afield early next year, heading overseas after the new Sutton Grange Winery - Uncorked Gravel in home territory in February. He will then head to the US for a stint that runs through until early June, planning to take in races that include one of the Belgian Waffle Rides, Gravel Locos, Sea Otter Classic and Unbound Gravel. After that Sens will return to Australia to try and defend his national title, before heading to Europe to build toward the UCI Gravel World Championships, which he has already qualified for given his Gravelista win.
After that, he hopes to be able to do it all again in 2025, ideally with a swathe of strong results behind him to help secure an invitation to compete in the Life Time Grand Prix series so he can make it a longer stay in the United States for his second full season.
The adventure, it seems, is just beginning.
“Gravel is what I love the most and where my strength is," said Sens. "And I think what I've got going at the moment, I could build it into quite a cool thing as a gravel privateer.”
