Australia will be competing in the UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium with a strong mix of gravel and road talent, including debutant Australian champion Courtney Sherwell, Giro d'Italia stage winner Neve Bradbury, and accomplished rider Tiffany Cromwell. The women's team boasts a strong mix of gravel talent and road crossover riders. The men's team will include nine experienced riders, including CyclingNews columnist Nathan Haas, last year's Australian gravel champion Conor Sense, Freddy Ovett, and Oliver Stenning, who will take on the 181km The team will take on the 181km men's race from Halle to Leuven on Sunday, October 6. Also participating will be Lawrence Black, Tom Chester, Corby Henderson, Matthew Shepherd, and Ben Spensley. Brendan Johnston was automatically named national champion but did not compete.

While the men's elite team selection was dominated by riders who had qualified for the UCI Gravel World Series, the women's elite team selection was a combination of series qualifiers and wild cards from the national federation, AusCycling. This combination should send a strong team to the 134km event on Saturday, October 5.

Cromwell won last year's European Championships, held in the same region and on the same terrain as this year's World Championships, and has finished in the top 10 and won the rainbow jersey in the last two races. This year he will race with Canyon Slam teammate Bradbury. Bradbury showed his strength by finishing at the top of the podium in the grueling Brockhaus stage of this year's Giro.

Bradbury will represent Australia in this weekend's Road World Championships. Both earned wildcard berths and, in Sherwell's case, also qualified as national gravel champions. Sherwell is the most off-road-focused rider on the team, having represented his country at last weekend's Marathon Mountain Bike World Championships. [2022 Australian Road Race Champion Nicole Frayne also competes in gravel alongside Hess road racing. Frayne finished second in both Hofa and Glaroch to qualify for the UCI series, and access to all coverage of the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships is unrestricted. We will bring you breaking news and analysis from the elite women's and elite men's events by journalists on the ground. For more information