Peta Mullens (VIC/Liv Australia) won the Elite Women’s 2025 AusCycling Cyclo-cross National Championship in Ballarat on Saturday. The rider from Bendigo won her third Elite cyclocross national championship ahead of Zoe Davison (WA/Swan Drafting CC) by 1:08 and third placed Fiona Morris (VIC/MAAP Sixpence CX) by 1:31.

In the Elite Men’s race, Tristan Nash (WA/Wembley Cycles) won his maiden Elite CX National title in Ballarat ahead of Harry Bebbington (VIC/Maxxis Flanders Racing) and Nick Smith (NSW/Batch Brewery x Seight) after just under an hour’s racing.

The circuit on Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung country was a mostly flat mix of mud and grass, with the exception of ‘The Mound’ - a large hill with multiple steep runups that riders tackled from three different angles. As with previous cyclocross races held in Ballarat conditions were wintry, with greasy mud in many of the corners and temperatures in the single digits.

Elite Women

The Elite Women’s race was dealt a blow on the morning of the championship race, with 2024 national champion Izzy Flint withdrawing due to illness.
There were two more changes to the startlist in the hours before the race due to a withdrawal from Erin Mitchell (VIC/Pana Organic Pedla) and a decision from Maddie Wasserbaech (SA/Butterfields Ziptrak Racing) to compete in the U23 event.

After those changes, just five riders took to the start line - Peta Mullens (VIC/Liv Australia), Miranda Griffiths (VIC/Batch Brewery x Seight), Zoe Davision (WA/Swan Drafting CC), Fi Morris (VIC/MAAP Sixpence CX) and Mikayla Smith (VIC/NSTRMO).

With the course still drying after a bout of small hail just before the start line, Mullens took the holeshot and led the field through the first corner, ahead of Griffiths and Davison.

Davison began to challenge for the lead around the outside of the bunch, and had gained an advantage of a handful of seconds by the time the race came into The Mound. Davison - the U23 champion in 2024 - put pressure on Mullens on the longest running section on course, increasing her gap slowly up the savage 25% gradients by shouldering her bike while Mullens opted to push.

Davison had stretched her lead over Mullens to seven seconds by the end of the first lap, with Griffiths another 2 seconds back. Morris and Smith had found themselves distanced and were 20 seconds off the lead.

Mullens, racing her first CX event in two years, took some time to find her groove as the intermediate treads on her tyres made cornering difficult on some of the course’s greasy hairpins.

However, there were also plenty of straights where the Bendigonian was able to use the superior fitness she gained from racing on the American criterium circuit this winter to catch and pass Davison by the time they reached The Mound on lap 2. Griffiths found herself chasing in third at a gap of around 20 seconds, with a further 15 back to Morris.

At the head of affairs, Mullens continued to extend her gap, applying superior power on the course’s drier and straighter sections. The rider from Bendigo crossed the line in 48:09, adding the 2025 Elite Women’s national champion’s jersey to her wins in 2017 and 2019, and making for 14 national championship jerseys across her glittering cycling career.

Davison was cheered by a raucous band of WA supporters as she crossed the line in second, while Morris was able to catch a fading Griffiths on the last lap to snatch a career-best third place.

The Elite Women's podium at the 2025 AusCycling Cyclo-cross National Championships (from L-R): Miranda Griffiths, Zoe Davison, Peta Mullens, Fiona Morris and Mikayla Smith.
Photo: CX Down Under

Elite Men

Tristan Nash (WA/Wembley Cycles) won his maiden Elite CX National title in Ballarat today. The West Australian prevailed ahead of Harry Bebbington (VIC/Maxxis Flanders Racing) and Nick Smith (NSW/Batch Brewery x Seight) after just under an hour’s racing.

Last year’s third place finisher Tasman Nankervis (VIC/Cannondale-Rapha-Shimano) wasted no time before applying pressure, taking the holeshot and stringing out the field in the early going.

Bebbington was the rider closest to Nankervis as riders approached The Mound - the course’s most difficult obstacle - with his Maxxis Flanders Racing teammate Dom Paolilli competing with Nash for limited space on racing lines. Nankervis, Bebbington and Nash began to pull clear over the top of the mound for the first time, and for the next two laps the trio slowly increased the gap to the rest of the field.

Nankervis kept the throttle open to try and crack his rivals, eventually gapping Bebbington and forcing a mistake out of Nash, with the Wembley Cycles rider sliding out around a hairpin on lap 4.

Tasman Nankervis leads the Elite Men’s race on lap 4, while in the background Tristan Nash picks himself up after fitting the deck.
Photo: CX Down Under

Although Nankervis had a 10 second gap at the halfway point, his race soon began to unravel. An issue with his shoe slowed him enough that Nash was able to catch and pass him on the corner into the long run on The Mound. As Nash made the pass, Nankervis called ‘get Russ to get a shoe’ to a member of the crowd, advertising to all that he would need his brother Russell to give him a spare shoe at the next possible opportunity.

Shortly after Nankervis had an issue that sent his rear derailleur into crash mode, requiring him to dismount to reset it. Those delays meant the rider from Bendigo was caught and passed by Bebbington and Smith, dropping him back to fourth - though eventually he was able to swap his broken white shoe for a fresh blue one.

Ahead Nash was cheered to his first national title by a vocal crowd of WA riders, skidding across the line after 53 minutes and 55 seconds and emphatically pointing to his machine.

Bebbington took silver just under a minute later, while Smith was able to hold off a resurgent Nankervis in a sprint finish for bronze.

Peta Mullens and Tristan Nash win 2025 Australian Elite CX Championships

Elite Women

Elite Men

Australian National CX Championships 2025: Mega Women’s Preview