Sutton Grange Winery - Uncorked Gravel becomes the latest addition to the beginning of the gravel season in Australia. It comes with a healthy prize purse and the promise of strong competition when it sets off for its first edition on Sunday February 18.
The event in regional Victoria, organised by the Bendigo District Cycling Club, is the second recent addition to the summer calendar with RADL GRVL to debut in January alongside the Tour Down Under.
Sutton Grange Winery - Uncorked Gravel, however, will offer a prize purse of $5,500 (Australian dollars), including $1000 for the men’s elite and women’s elite winners. That follows on from the announcement from RADL GRVL – delivered by Tiffany Cromwell, Valtteri Bottas and SBT GRVL organisers – that it would split $10,000 equally among the top 3 pro men and women.
After the start, the 94.5km race will head to a 27km circuit where riders will take on three laps before heading back to the winery to complete the 100% gravel course. Riders will tackle a mix of fast open terrain, technical rocky and hilly sections through the Pilchers Bridge Nature Conservation Reserve and the Lyell State Forest. For the first edition, numbers will be limited to 240 and prizes in the elite category will pay down to 6th place.