Poland upset the hosts, edging out two Australian squads to win gold in the Team Relay at the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships on Friday night.
The 2025 titles moved to Geelong for day two of competition, with 21 outfits representing 12 nations, also including Germany, USA, Slovenia, France, Italy, Japan, Great Britain and Ireland, starting the fast and furious race.
Eastern Park transformed into something that resembled more of an F1 track as the teams of four, which had to include at least one female, one rider over 40 and one rider over 50, arrived at the 1.92km street circuit.
One amateur cyclist from each squad lined-up for what was a frenetic mass start, with their other three teammates waiting in pit lane by the start/finish line. Each racer had to complete three laps of the circuit, and once they’d crossed the finish line for the last time, the next teammate would sprint out of pit lane and repeat.
Belgium’s Robbe Van Praet set the tone early going full-gas from the gun and had a healthy lead on the rest of the peloton for his first two laps, a ferocious headwind on the back straight slowing him down in the third.
“The last lap they caught me, like, 500m to go, and then I did a sprint too early,” he said.
“It was a last-minute phone call for us, so we’re here for fun and we see what comes.”
Robbe Van Praet, third from left, with Belgium teammates in Geelong. Photo: Sophie Smith
Van Praet is set to compete in Sunday’s road race at Lorne and while Belgium ultimately didn’t figure on the podium, the team relay, for him, doubled as a solid warm-up for the 131km test.
“The rust on my lungs has gone now for Sunday,” Van Praet said.
“It’s a comeback year. I didn’t race for a couple of years, or not much, and this year was my comeback year, but I broke some things in the beginning of the season. I managed to qualify, and I hope to turn the story up to positive.”
The peloton had split over the circuit with nations adopting different race strategies – some sending their strongest riders first, others last, or in the middle.
Claire Vogel rode the second leg for Great Britain with one clear team aim. “Just don’t finish last. Keep rubber side down, don’t finish last,” she said.
“We’ve got a predominately older team, so for us it was easy to fill the categories, whereas some teams it’s slightly more difficult. We decided to put strong on the front, protect the two older riders, and then put a strong on the back, so they can make up, or hold position at the back.”
Vogel is visiting Australia for the first time, finishing up what has been somewhat of a cycling odyssey.
“This year my partner and I, we’ve forgone our holidays in order to do bicycle races throughout the year. So, started off in Portugal in March, went to the south of France, Slovenia, Italy, and here. We’ve done a little world tour almost.”
The racers, as they peeled off the track, their laps complete, became part of the crowd, which got more raucous as it yo-yoed between the front and back straight of the circuit, loud and proud multilingual cheers almost drowning out the SpinOff public music festival nearby.
Riders fight for position on the back straight of the course. Photo: Aaron Collins, NorthSouth
Poland’s strategy was different to some other teams in that the nation opted to start slower and bring the race home at the pointy end, which Wojciech Szczepanik did, capping off the work of teammates, including Alina Mylka, Jakub Rucinski and Piotr Bielinski, with enough time to sit up and celebrate solo at the finish.
“Extremely hard. I attack on second run and then I need to go solo from breakaway. I was really tired, but happy in the finish line,” Szczepanik said.
“It was a pleasure to race in Australia. It’s amazing. A lot of emotion and really beautiful day.”
Wojciech Szczepanik celebrates a win for Poland. Photo: Aaron Collins, NorthSouth
Two different Australian teams rounded out the podium. Jon Leighton was part of the squad that took silver in what was an especially memorable performance for him.
“This is a great initiative to have a team relay where you can have all age groups and male and female all racing together. So, to take part with some great mates, in Australia is incredible, and to end up on the podium is wonderful,” Leighton said.
“I think I was the first Aussie to do this world championships back in Belgium in 2011. I’ve done 14 in 15 years of world championships – this is my first podium.
“Incredible. I can’t believe it. It’s been a lifetime goal to be on the podium of world champs.”
Jon Leighton, pictured on right, with Australians who claimed silver and bronze. Photo: Aaron Collins, NorthSouth
Leighton put the result down to having solid teammates.
“This team relay means that if you’re good but not the very best, but you put together the right team, you can be on the podium,” he said.
Earlier, children were among the 60-odd cyclists who tested their legs on the same world championship circuit during the Hendry’s SpinOff FREE Family Ride. Australian cycling legend Simon Gerrans was there to oversee the event that allowed children and adults of all ages to complete as many laps as they could in 30 minutes on everything from balance bikes to fixed-gear.
“This is a pretty unique opportunity for a lot of kids to ride their bikes on the road. Normally as a parent you're steering your kids on the path, and into the parks. So, for them to be able to ride on a closed road, to ride out there on their bikes is a really unique opportunity that they love,” Gerrans said. “And as far as the grassroots goes, I think we're seeing not only kids but grand-kids of the participants in the Gran Fondo World Championships out here on the road today too.”
The 2025 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships finish on Sunday with a road race that coincides with Amy's Great Ocean Road Gran Fondo.
🏅 Race Results
- 🥇 POL1 - 30:22 (POL) - Wojciech Szczepanik, Alina Mylka, Jakub Rucinski, Piotr Bielinski
- 🥈 AUS4 - 30:26 (AUS) - Jenny Pettenon, Tynan Shanon, Matty Arthur, Jon Leighton
- 🥉 AUS1 - 30:26 (AUS) - Salsie Pieterse, Ryan Thomas, Brendon Bauer, Alan Nelson
Main Image: Poland celebrates gold in Team Relay at UCI Gran Fondo World Championships. Photo: Aaron Collins, NorthSouth