The first-ever Brompton Australia Championships (yep, it's a thing) were held on Sunday, 19 October at Sydney Olympic Park as part of the Sydney Rides Festival. The Brompton national championships offer owners of the British folding bikes a chance to be competitive and show off their non-cycling apparel.
More than 600 competitors fought for the grand prize – return flights for the fastest male and female riders to represent the nation at the UK-based 2015 Brompton World Championships.
The race kicked off with a Le-Mans style start, where riders had to first unfold their bikes, then set off on a six-lap race in front of Sydney Olympic Stadium.
Stephen Hodge on his way to a third place finish
Among the 70 entrants on the day was former Australian pro-cyclist Stephen Hodge, who rubbed elbow patches with other Brompton enthusiasts. Philip Gray and Anna Cunningham took the inaugural crowns and won the tickets to the World Championship.
Brompton riders also had the chance to compete for the title of ‘Fastest Folder’. The winner of this prize did so with a time of just 9.2 seconds.
To make sure nothing gets too serious, Brompton Championships have an established ‘jacket and tie’ dress code. There's a competition for the best dressed rider too.
Australia joins a growing list of countries to offer National Championships - they're already run in Austria, Chile, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, Sweden and the USA.