Crop Duster starts gravel racing series

Gravel In Paradise is back for 2026.

The annual gravel bike racing series began with its first event — the Crop Duster — in Alexandra last weekend.

It drew 134 riders as the first of four events in the series.

The Crop Duster had some ‘‘really, really good fields’’ Cycling Otago race convener and gravel director Grant Campbell said.

‘‘[There was] a return of a lot of strong riders from last year but also probably 30% or 40% of the field were new to gravel races which was great.

Warm conditions with a ‘‘very strong westerly’’ greeted the riders making it tough in the back half of the race.

‘‘That sort of favoured the riders at the start but made coming home, pushing back into it, really, really tough.’’

Two time men’s series champion Jeremy Presbury, of Wa ¯naka, started his 2026 series with a winning time of 1hr 35min 45sec.

He was not the only Wānaka winner as Michaela Rogan took out the women’s race as well, finishing in 1hr 51min 02sec.

Campbell was especially excited to see the women’s entries increase significantly on last year.

‘‘Almost 20% of the field were made up of female riders which is amazing, it’s great.’’

Another 20% of entries were also in the Ride Strong category, he said.

The Ride Strong category is targeted at farmers in the hopes of getting them off the farm and into a community event.

The series will now shift to the Puketapu Gravel’n’Tar race in Palmerston next month.