Claudia Marcks becomes first elite women's 1000m TT national champion of Australia

Claudia Marcks has etched her name into the history books as the inaugural elite women's 1000m time trial national champion of Australia at the 2025 AusCycling Track National Championships in Brisbane.

Marcks and the seven finalists battled the pain of the 1000-metre time trial for the first time at Track Nationals, with the Canberran prevailing in a time of 1:07.854, 0.289 seconds clear of silver medallist Alessia McCaig from Victoria.

Nicole Duncan (New South Wales) picked up her third minor medal in as many nights, winning bronze after finishing 1.455 seconds behind Marcks.

The kilo national title is the second of Marcks' career, but it is her first gold medal due to finishing third behind Ireland's Lara Gillespie and Czechia's Petra Ševčíková when she won the 2024 elimination race crown.

"It's awesome, pretty cool to have an event like this that's perfect for my strengths," Marcks said.

"I've been battling to get that IP gold for a very long time, which is a bit bittersweet, but it's great to have another kind of timed effort like that where I can get everything out there and it's really rewarding.

"I know that I had her (McCaig) in the qualifying and I trusted that I can back myself up. I was riding a slightly bigger gear, so I wasn't sure how that was going to treat me out on the track, but I know once I'm up to speed it's just a matter of who can keep pushing those last two laps when you can't build anymore.

"She's a very strong rider and I know that the 500-metre time trial has been her event for a long time, so it was just who could push the lactate as long as they can really."

2025 is the first year the 1000m time trial event for elite and junior women has been raced and has replaced the 500m time trial.

Marcks said the change was an exciting venture moving forward.

"I think it's really awesome and really interesting to see how the different sides of track react to this kind of effort," Marcks said.

"I know that as an enduro, we probably have a little bit better of that longer distance lactate clearing, but I've always loved that little bit of a sprinter side so it's been good to have that mixed in with this event that we're now also able to do as enduros."

Feature picture: Mackenzie Sweetnam