Belgian Waffle Ride: Cecily Decker and Torbjorn Roed win in Kansas

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Cecily Decker (Scuderia Pinarello) and Torbjørn Røed (Above + Beyond Cancer) claimed victory at the Belgian Waffle Ride Kansas, both crossing the line solo to take out the sixth race of the series this season.

Røed – who started racing gravel at the Arizona BWR in March this year and also claimed two second places on the road at the Tour of Gila – finished the speedy edition with a time of 6:09:14. He claimed the win after heading into the single track section near the end of the race with a gap, which he comfortably held to the line. 

Australia's Brendan Johnston (Giant Off Road), who won in Utah, finished around 30 seconds after Røed to take second in a windy edition of the event while Andrew Dillman (Ignition p/b Rigd-Leitner) was third.

Decker, who last month claimed the 103-mile race on stage 3 at Rebecca's Private Idaho, dominated the women's category at the Kansas BWR. She finished with a time of 7:08:36, 12 minutes ahead of second-placed Whitney Allison (Bike Sports) while Hannah Shell (Vantage Sports) was another 15 minutes back.

“I stayed in the same group with Whitney until we got to the trail by the lake and that’s where I ended up putting the gas on and then I managed to stay away for the rest of the race,” said Decker in a post race interview.

BWR Kansas took place on the rolling hills north of Lawrence, with the 123-mile (198km) Waffle course including around 7,550 feet (2,301m) of climbing on a course that was 88% unpaved, with sections of single track and water crossings along the way.

The Kansas event was the last of five races in the United States in the series this year. The Canadian race played out in May while the event in Mexico is set to take place from November 25-26 to decide the Quadrupel Crown of Gravel and the overall prize purse of $25,000 to be shared among the top five men and women.