Mackenzie Coupland put on a commanding performance on her home streets of Perth to win her first-ever Australian road race title solo in her debut race as a WorldTour rider.
The 20-year-old Liv AlUla Jayco rider won the U23 title at the same time, while her teammate Ruby Roseman-Gannon sprinted out of a chase group to take second place and put two purple jerseys on the podium. Meanwhile, Sophie Marr added to the success by taking the bronze in the U23 competition for the Continental team.
It was a difficult course with the heat making it harder, but the Liv AlUla Jayco squad worked perfectly together to keep control of the race. Time trial and criterium medallist from earlier in the week, Josie Talbot put down an early marker by getting into the day’s breakaway with Katelyn Nicholson.
In the latter stages of the race, the attacks from the peloton increased and Coupland went clear with Tiffany Cromwell. As the penultimate lap came to a close, Talbot forged on solo and dropped Nicholson on one of the major climbs of the day with Coupland also dropping Cromwell.
Coupland drove on, eventually catching Talbot with little over 10 kilometres remaining. Tired from all her work, Talbot told her teammate to keep going and with around eight kilometres to go Coupland was solo. Despite a stern chase from behind, the young rider held on all the way to the line with Roseman-Gannon crossing the line 32 seconds behind her to take silver.
Mackenzie Coupland
“I sneakily got away with Tiffany Cromwell, and I just sat on because I knew that I could only help Josie in the front if I had fresh legs. So, I sat on for a bit but then we got onto the climb, and I was just doing my tempo and dropped her. I figured I might as well try and catch Josie as well. She gave me a good run and it was really hard to catch her. I think I gave her a bit of a shock and she told me to keep going. I just kept going and kept digging deep. It feels honestly amazing to get this jersey. I made a few mistakes in the race, but I hope I did my teammates proud with this win. I’m very happy.”
2026 Australian Road Race Championships
1. Mackenzie Coupland (Liv AlUla Jayco) 2:48:58
2. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco) +32
Photo: Chris Auld Photo
