Sunday 12 April delivered drama and exciting competition for 7000 cyclists at the 2026 UCI Tour de Brisbane Gran Fondo, part of the UCI Gran Fondo World Series and Australia’s only world championship qualifying event.
Riders tackled 110km of fully closed Brisbane city streets, including the iconic 2km ascent of Mount Coot-tha at 9%, finishing for the first time atop the Story Bridge.
After finishing second at the AusCycling Esports National Championships on Friday, Mitchell Stewart moved to the top of Gran Fondo podium on Sunday. In a photo finish, with all three podium riders — Stewart, Joshua Rowe, and Ryan Thomas — recording the identical time of 2:36:04, Stewart took gold ahead of Rowe and Thomas. Josh Beikoff finished fourth in 2:36:41, with Kester McQueen rounding out the top five in 2:36:45.
In the women’s Gran Fondo, Brittany Dutton, who finished eighth in the elite Oceania Road Race on Friday, crossed in 2:51:02 to take the win, just three seconds ahead of Shauna Frey at 2:51:05. Bronwyn MacGregor claimed third in 2:51:08 — another closely contested podium. Bronte Stewart finished fourth in 2:54:47, followed by Emily Lewis in 2:55:04.
The shorter 80km Medio Fondo produced its own headlines. Oliver Urry won the men’s race in 2:02:04, ahead of Levi Marsman at 2:02:13 and Max Edwards at 2:02:27. Ava Robbins dominated the women’s Medio Fondo in 2:02:03, beating Elise Vaughan by over a minute, with Petra Anderson taking third in 2:10:05.
Riders finishing in the top 25% of their age group in the 110km Gran Fondo earned automatic qualification for the 2026 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships, set for Niseko, Japan, next August — the first time the event has been held in Asia.
Complete 2026 Tour de Brisbane results HERE
Photo Credit: Instagram/jamespennyfit
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