NEVE & EMILY EXCEL AT AUS NATIONALS: ELITE BRONZE & U23 SILVER

Neve Bradbury and Emily Dixon both achieved career-best results in the Elite Women’s Road Race at the Australian National Championships, with Neve claiming a brilliant bronze and Emily finishing a superb sixth, also taking silver in the U23 category.

The two former Zwift Academy winners lined up alongside the highly experienced Tiffany Cromwell, the trio executing a physically and tactically strong race across the 108-kilometre punchy course.

Predictably, aggressive racing defined almost all eight laps. Countless attacks went off the front, while, as kilometres ticked down, riders were steadily distanced at the back under the relentless pressure of the course and scorching conditions.

With just over one lap of 13.5km remaining, Tiffany surged off the front with eventual winner Mackenzie Coupland (LIV), but the young Perth powerhouse pulled away on the penultimate climb of Malcolm Street (1.1km at 4.2%) – an ascent that led straight to the finish. As the bell rang, Neve flipped into ‘result-chasing mode’, launching relentless attacks until she finally broke clear with Ruby Roseman-Gannon (LIV) and Katelyn Nicholson. The trio stayed away, but while Neve distanced Nicholson, she couldn’t overcome the classy Roseman-Gannon, who delivered a 1-2 finish for the nine-rider Liv-AlUla Jayco squad.

Neve breaks down a confidence-boosting second outing of her 2026 season.

“The game plan was the same as in Friday’s criterium – to make sure that we were in the break with Jayco. We missed the main break of the day but they never got a huge gap on us. There were attacks flying from everywhere almost the whole race and we did well to be in most of them. Tiff and Emily did really well controlling all the breakaways and also attacking themselves multiple times. With just under one lap to go, there was only one Jayco rider ahead of the race, so I attacked one last time when the peloton looked to be hurting. Ruby followed me, but I then had to do the rest of the race by myself with Ruby on my wheel. I never made it to Coupland and Ruby obviously out-sprinted me, so I had to settle for third. Emily’s result was really impressive considering how much work she did. We can be happy with today’s race given the circumstances.”

Tiffany also shares her thoughts on how the decisive moments unfolded.

“As a team, I think we managed all the situations pretty well. I didn’t quite have enough in the legs to hold Mackenzie – now I’m a bit annoyed, given that she made it across and took the win. But hey, it’s the first time in a long while that I’ve actually ‘raced’ my bike and been properly part of a road race.”

A rider for Team Generation, the development wing of CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto, Emily was a constant presence at the head of the peloton from the outset. Her team duties came early, yet despite the relentless work of monitoring and chasing attacks, she never surrendered and still had matches to burn in the finale. She was beaten by only one rider in the bunch sprint to take sixth, 11 seconds back from Neve, out-powering many riders who had been able to race more conservatively. In doing so, she secured the U23 silver behind Coupland – the winner of both the elite and U23 categories – Emily matching the medal she won in the U19 road race two years ago.

Reflecting on the day, Emily said:

“It was a really hard race – on the gas all day. I felt like I was doing repeat sprint efforts chasing so many Jayco riders on the attack, but kudos to them – if we had the numbers, we probably would’ve done the same. I was committed to keeping breakaway gaps in reach to help Neve and Tiff later in the race, and I’m glad I could play a part in their races for the elite category.”

“I didn’t expect to have anything left for the finish after working so hard all race, but I kicked into another gear. It’s nationals, so you can always find a few more watts to give it everything to the line. I’m really happy with the result and how we worked as a team. Neve and Tiff are clearly so experienced, and it’s a privilege to race alongside and learn from them.”

For a trio taking on the might of much larger squads, they couldn’t have asked for much more. The national championship title eluded them, but it was never out of reach.

Aside from Sunday’s road race, the long westerly trip to Perth delivered other encouraging performances for the three Australians. On Thursday, Emily powered to fifth in the U23 Time Trial, just a minute off the podium over 29km. It was a solid ride, even if short of her own expectations, and one that fuelled her motivation for the road race.

Friday’s 60-minute inner-city criterium saw Tiffany and Neve go in for battle, while Emily rested the legs. From the gun, the racing was as expected – hard, fast and ferocious. After relentless attacks, a decisive break of three WorldTeam riders went clear. While the peloton scrambled to respond, Neve had already acted, expertly set up by Tiffany. She bridged the 10-second gap with one other rider and, after an intense showdown, finished just off the podium in fourth.

For Tiffany and Neve, it’s now straight to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under, starting Saturday, while Emily prepares to head to Europe for training camp with CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation.