Brendan Johnston claimed his third Devils Cardigan title in Derby, Tasmania, soloing to victory on a prototype Giant Revolt and CADEX WheelSystem to extend one of the most dominant runs of form in the UCI Gravel World Series. The Australian has now won his last six Gravel World Series races.
Tested by a brutal 106km course, which was 87 percent gravel with 2,300 meters of elevation over three main climbs, Johnston fended off British rider Harry Leask to take the win by just under a minute. The hard-fought victory also made it a perfect sweep of all three Australian races that serve as qualifiers for the 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships: Gravelista in Seymour, SEVEN in Nannup, and now the Devils Cardigan in Derby.
The race came down to Johnston and Leask, who had stayed together across the high plateau after Leask caught Johnston's early solo move. Johnston bided his time and found his moment on the final, roughest section of the course. He made a decisive attack, opened a gap, and held it all the way to the line.
"To take a sixth consecutive UCI Gravel World Series win and a third Devils Cardigan title is incredibly special," said Johnston, who wore the new Giant Pursuit helmet to earn the win. "I made my move on the final and roughest climb of the race, opening a gap that I could hold all the way to the finish. The Revolt prototype was exceptional all day, and the upgrades really came into their own when the race was at its hardest."
The prototype Johnston has been racing and testing is the development version of Giant’s next-generation gravel platform. Also built up with a CADEX Amp saddle and Aero Integrated handlebar, it’s the same bike he raced a few weeks ago in the United States to a career-best top-5 finish at Unbound Gravel in Kansas, one of the most demanding gravel races in the world.
With the sweep of the Australian rounds complete, Johnston can now look ahead to the 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships scheduled for October 10–11 in Nannup, Western Australia. It's a course he already knows: Johnston won the SEVEN qualifier there in May, finishing in 3:55:56 ahead of Australian national champion Mark O'Brien.