Tiffany Cromwell knows what it takes to win on the challenging ascent heavy course of SEVEN in Nannup, Western Australia – the Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto rider has already made it to the top step of the podium in 2023 – but the Australian who had been fighting ‘a little bit of sickness’ wasn’t expecting a repeat of that winning effort when she dropped away from the front duo early in the race.
“We hit the first main climb called Brockmans which was a steep little one not that far in [20km], and I wasn’t feeling great,” said Cromwell in a team media release. “Cassia [Boglio] and Talia [Appleton} were able to go with the pace, and I just had to be like, ‘no, not my day.’
“I settled into my own pace up the climb and went from there. From then on, I really didn’t expect my race to turn around how it did.”
Plenty, however, can change over a testing 126km UCI Gravel World Series race, with more than a dozen solid climbs and 3,365m of vertical gain.
The racing began in the small town of Nannup with a mass start, meaning the immediate mixing of categories – first with the elite men and then the amateurs from behind – helped split the women’s field apart early. That meant when Boglio (PAS Racing) and Appleton (Praties Cycling) held firm in a bunch ahead on the Brockman climb it was just Cromwell and Matilda Raynolds from the elite women’s category left in the group behind.
“I was just like, ‘okay, at least try to fight for the final podium spot,’ because Matilda was still there for a little bit – finally, I lost her,” said Cromwell. “After that, it was just me, mixed in here and there with the amateur guys, but I didn’t really get a lot of help from them. There were a few times where they would roll through with me in the bunch and I’d get a little bit of recovery, but the course is so challenging, with all the steep climbs – it’s not really that helpful having a bunch.
“Eventually, I got into my rhythm – just focused on fueling and counting down the kilometres. Like, ‘okay, let’s get this done.’”
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At that point her eyes may have been on the last step of the podium, but that quickly changed at about two-thirds of the way through the race through the Blackwood Valley when she spotted the predominantly blue Praties kit of Appleton, who had beaten her to the win the weekend before at Devils Cardigan, off in the distance.
“Again, I just got into a good rhythm, and the legs were starting to come around,” said Cromwell. “Still not amazing, but holding strong. Every climb, I kept a good pace. On the descents, I tried to take them as fast as I could while also not wiping out, because the gravel can be quite slippery here.”
Cromwell caught her Australian adversary, with Appleton having also come second to Cromwell at the National Championships last month, and then tried to make a move now that the sniff of a second place was back.
“She’s very hard to shake – she doesn’t give up easily,” said Cromwell.
That was perhaps why, when the Australian gravel champion finally did manage to drop the 19-year-old who is hoping to follow Cromwell into the Women’s WorldTour, that there was no easing off.
“There was maybe 12.5 to 15km to go, so I pushed on in full time trial mode,” said Cromwell. That delivered an unexpected benefit, not only stretching the gap to Appleton but also putting Boglio, who had been more than four-and-a-half minutes ahead with 50km to go, within reach.
“As we entered the last climb, which was about 1km long, I could see her,” said Cromwell. “I thought, ‘alright, game on.’ That’s when I think she realised it was me coming, so you could see her trying to push.
“I dug really, really deep up the climb but didn’t get her before the top – there was still a gap. So it really became a time-trial pursuit – she was maybe 20 seconds ahead, and I was behind trying to get everything out of my legs.”
The complicating factor was that they were heading downhill into single-track and there were also an assortment of riders from shorter distances and other categories between them.
“Most people got out of the way, but the passes were still sketchy,” Cromwell said. “When I got to her, she had one guy on her wheel. I asked him so many times, “can you please move? Let me through, we’re racing for the win,” blah blah blah – but he didn’t want to move. So I had to do a bit of a dodgy pass, which got me past both of them. Then I just had to take the lead for the rest of the way.”
All the way through the finish line, it turns out, with home-state favourite Boglio – who had all but looked to have the win sewn up – having to settle for the runner-up spot for a third year in a row.
“I’m happy to get the win to finish off the Australian block, even when I wasn’t feeling 100%. It’s a great event, on a super tough course,” said Cromwell who will next race in the United States at the end of May when she takes on Unbound 100, which she won in 2023, before heading to SBT GRVL.
“It’s giving me confidence, knowing that the fitness is there,” Cromwell said. “Once I get back to 100% healthy, I’m sure those races will go well too.”
