NANNUP — Tiffany Cromwell signed off from a 17-season career with a feisty eighth place at the UCI Gravel World Championships in Nannup, turning home advantage into two bold solo moves in the 125.6km race with 3,179m of elevation gain. The Australian, a three-time winner of the SEVEN Gravel World Series race on the same course, finished inside the top 10 for the second time in five Gravel Worlds appearances, edging Elisa Serné (Netherlands) in a sprint for eighth after a day on the attack.
"When you know it's your last one, the head space was good. I knew I just had nothing to lose," Cromwell told Cyclingnews after crossing her final finish line. The first key selection came on Brockman, where she made the chase group and steadily chipped away at the gap before closing it completely — and then riding straight through. "In gravel, I've always been good at just getting in my rhythm, and I think just the dynamic at the front – nobody really wants to show their cards too quickly – it seemed to play into my favour," she said.
The move stretched quickly. With Marianne Vos (Netherlands) among those to pursue, hesitation at the front allowed Cromwell's lead to grow to more than a minute with 70km remaining. "It was obviously early on but It was like 'OK, you know, why not try something, get a head start,'" she said, mindful that she "always suffered" on the Ellis climb ahead. Caught and dropped before fighting back again, she then attacked once more heading towards Folly with just under 30km to go, sparking a roar from the crowd. "I was like, 'I'm cooked, I could sit here, get dropped in a few k or attack,'" she said. "And the way gravel works, a lot of individual riders against each other, nobody wants to necessarily chase straight away, so again, it just gave me another head start for Folly. But then I was like, done, done."
Cromwell still held on to secure eighth, sprinting to hold off Serné for the final top-10 place. "I wanted to come here, race my bike, give everything I had, and just be at the finish having no regrets," she said as she concluded her final round of post-race media interviews to close a career spanning 17 seasons and now including a second UCI Gravel World Championships top 10.