The inaugural ProVelo Super League (PSL) came to close over the weekend with the Q Tour held in and around Brisbane.
The sixth and final round of the PSL – which this year replaced Australia's ailing National Road Series (NRS) – saw Jack Ward (Brennan-TP32) and Sophie Marr (Praties) crowned overall league winners, both securing a contract with the GreenEdge organisation (Jayco AlUla and Liv AlUla Jayco).
Zac Marriage (Butterfields Ziptrack) won the men's Q Tour overall, just ahead of Ward, while Alli Anderson (also Butterfields Ziptrack) won the women's tour.
Here's how the two races played out.
Women's race
The opening stage was a Friday evening criterium on Brisbane's South Bank which ended in the predicted bunch sprint. Odette Lynch (Butterfields Ziptrack) proved quickest, adding to her stage win from the opening PSL round in Adelaide. Seventeen-year-old Amelie Sanders (ARA-Skip Capital) was second, ahead of another rising star Lauren Bates (Meridian Blue-99 Bikes).
Bates came to the fore in the lumpy stage 2 time trial, usurping the top favourites to take her second win of this year's PSL (after winning the Tour of Tasmania queen stage). Butterfields-Ziptrack pair Alli Anderson (Australia's U23 TT champion) and Sophie Edwards completed the podium as Bates moved into the overall lead.
Stage 3 took the riders to the Lakeside Raceway the same day as the time trial, where series leader Sophie Marr (Praties) got the better of tour leader Bates and Edwards in a bunch sprint. Bates retained her overall lead.
And then, on the final stage, it was Marr's teammate – and intra-team rival for the GreenEdge contract – Talia Appleton, who got away from a Praties-dominated lead group, dropped race leader Bates, and rode to victory on the tough uphill finish in the Moreton Bay Hinterland. Anderson was second, ahead of Sophia Samons (Praties).
Anderson's consistent tour saw her take out the race overall, ahead of Appleton and Bates.
Here's how the GC looked at the end of four stages of racing:
And here's how the series leaderboard looks after the final round. Marr ended up clinching the pro contract – a full season with the Liv AlUla Jayco Continental team in 2026 – but it was very close.
Men's race
The men's tour began with Cameron Scott (Ccache-Bodypwrap) taking a sprint victory from a breakaway of seven in the South Bank criterium. His teammate Liam Walsh took second while Scott Bowden (Tasmanian Institute of Sport) was third after riding aggressively throughout. The victory added to Scott's two stage wins and overall success at the Harbour City GP in Sydney a few weeks back.
The stage 2 time trial saw Zac Marriage (Butterfields Ziptrack) take victory ahead of Tristan Saunders (Brennan-TP32) and Conor Leahy (Ccache-Bodywrap) – Marriage's first win in the PSL after a bunch of second places. Walsh moved into the overall lead after finishing eighth in the TT.
The stage 3 road race saw Tynan Shannon (Royal Bikes) ride to his first win of the PSL, a few seconds ahead of Elliot Schulz (Cobra9-Leigh Surveyors). Shannon has sparked the day's winning breakaway with a solo move, prompting others to join him. Schulz and Shannon then got clear of that group late, with Shannon beating Schulz in the two-up sprint. Matthew Lambert (Tandem Co) led home the rest of the break in third.
By winning the stage, Shannon moved into the overall lead with one stage remaining.
And then, on the final stage, the two big favourites – Marriage and Ward – came out to play. Several breakaways got clear at various points throughout the day, but the last of those was caught when Ward attacked on the final climb, dragging Marriage with him. Ward ended up winning the stage, beating Marriage on the uphill finale in a two-up sprint.
While Marriage went on to win the Tour – 17 seconds ahead of Ward with Bowden in third – Ward leaves the inaugural PSL as the overall winner, and the proud owner of a Jayco AlUla stagiaire contract for later this year.
Here's the final GC for the men's race:
And here's the final standings for the series. As in the women's series it was close at the end, with Ward taking the win despite having missed a round (Marriage raced all six races).
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