Mike O'Connor
Australia has delivered a commanding performance at the 2026 Oceania Road Championships in Brisbane, claiming the majority of titles across both the time trial and road race events.
Elite road races
The elite road races, held on Friday, started and finished in Mount Crosby and featured repeated ascents of the short but steep Kholo Road climb, which helped split the field and set up an aggressive finale.
Brisbane’s-own Carter Bettles secured the elite men’s road race crown after a tense finish against New Zealand’s Luke Mudgway.
The pair broke clear late in the race, with Bettles holding a slim advantage into the closing stages.
Mudgway reduced the gap in the final kilometre but was unable to catch the Australian before the line.
Alastair Christie-Johnston completed the podium, adding bronze in the road race to the same medal he earned in the time trial earlier in the week.
In the women’s road race, under 23 rider Tully Schweitzer crossed the line first alongside teammate Sophia Sammons, finishing well clear of the field.
As the first rider home, Schweitzer was awarded the Oceania title, while Sammons secured the under 23 classification ahead of Belinda Johnston-Bailey.
Defending champion Katelyn Nicholson took elite gold, reversing the result from the time trial where she had finished second to New Zealand’s Bronwyn MacGregor. MacGregor added road race silver to her earlier time trial victory, with Ellie Hoitink finishing third.
Australia also swept the under 23 men’s road race podium, led by William Heffernan ahead of Christian Tuminello and time trial winner Thomas Waites.
In the junior ranks, Alistair Forsyth completed a standout championships, adding the under 19 road race title to his earlier time trial win with a solo performance. He finished ahead of New Zealand’s Alex Botha and Australia’s Zachary Douglas-Savage.
The under 19 women’s road race was won by Chloe Bowen, while Neve Parslow and New Zealand’s Alex Milne claimed silver and bronze respectively.
Thursday – time trial
On Thursday, Conor Leahy set the tone for the host nation by winning the elite men’s time trial over 17.8 kilometres, finishing 21 seconds ahead of teammate Oliver Bleddyn.
Alastair Christie-Johnston placed third to secure his first medal of the championships.
Bronwyn MacGregor claimed the elite women’s time trial title, finishing 12 seconds clear of Katelyn Nicholson, with Ula Chrabaszcz taking bronze.
Sophia Sammons successfully defended her under 23 time trial title with the fastest women’s time of the day, while Thomas Waites edged a tight contest in the under 23 men’s event by less than a second over Julian Baudry. Dylan Proctor-Parker was third.
Alistair Forsyth also topped the under 19 men’s time trial podium ahead of Andre Free and Oscar Schoff, while Megan Moore won the under 19 women’s title, reversing the result from the Australian national championships. Rising star Neve Parslow finished second, with Jesse Thomson third.
Australia’s dominance extended into para cycling across both days of competition, with multiple gold medals secured including by Darren Hicks, Kyle Willis, Korey Boddington, Patrick Best, Alex Welsh, Thomas Walvin and tandem pair Steven Kemp and Hugh Harvey.
New Zealand secured standout para cycling victories through Nicole Murray in the C5 class and tandem duo Emma Foy and Jessie Hodges.
You can see the full results from the two of racing here, and here.
Mike O’Connor – A keen cyclist, runner and photographer, Mike O’Connor is the Editor of Bicycling Australia. He manages the BA website and social media, and loves promoting the achievements of Australian cyclists.
