Nankervis, Barrow find glory on gravel at inaugural Harcourt North Classic | Photos

Nankervis set a strong pace from the get-go up the side of Mt Alexander which would see Fergus Browning and Jack Aitken following closely.

Further back in the field InForm teammates Mark O'Brien and Blake Agnoletto showed strength and slowly caught back up to the leaders to form a group of nine.

However, Nankervis' mountain experience came to fruition as with every hill he would go on the offence putting pressure on his opponents which was down to seven by the last lap of the 76km loop.

When there were just two climbs remaining, Nankervis launched yet another attack and was again joined by Browning and Aitken.

On the home stretch on bitumen with one brutal climb still yet to conquer, Nankervis went in for the winning move to ride the final 5km solo to take the inaugural victory 15 seconds in front of Aitken and 36 seconds to Browning.

The top-10 was rounded out with O'Brien, Mike Cumming, Domenic Paolilli, Agnoletoo, Nick Squillari, John Davis and Dan Peck.

James Taylor secured victory in the men's 40+ division from Peter Casey and Shane Roberts.

In the elite women's division it was a three-way battle for much of the race.

The tough contest was between Justine Barrow and fellow Roxsolt Liv SRAM teammates Courtney Sherwell and Tilly Field.

While they were close for much of the race, it was Barrow who sealed the victory from Sherwell and Field.

Meanwhile, Jenny Pettenon won the women's 40+ event from Meredith Clark and Vida Douglas.

Issac Fletcher (men's) and Sophie Sutton (women's) claimed victory within the sport division races.

Race director Darren Casey said the day of racing started in tough conditions.

"We started on the Castlemaine side of Mt Alexander but by the time we were around the other side the conditions were great," he said.

"We were very lucky with the weather as they ended up being perfect for gravel racing."

Casey praised both Nankervis and Barrow for their excellent efforts to secure the inaugural victories.

"From the start Tasman was right out of the gates and really deserved the win and it was the same for Justine who is a championship level rider," he said.

After the success of the Bendigo District Cycling Club's first gravel event the plan is hold to many more in the future.

"The success of the event has given confidence and great excitement to hold more especially as they attract riders from Melbourne and right across the state," Casey said.

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