Carolin Schiff (Canyon Cllctv) and Paul Voss (Autsaid) won the German Gravel Championships on Sunday, but it wasn't without multiple crashes for both victors and some controversy in the women's race.
It was a second consecutive elite women's gravel national title for Schiff, while Voss took his first national prize on gravel. It was his second national championship in a long career that began as a junior more than 20 years ago, which saw him win as a junior in cyclocross in 2004.
The women's field was whittled down to a final uphill sprint between former Unbound Gravel 200 champions, 2023 winner Schiff edging 2024 winner Rosa Klöser (Rose-MAAP) by three seconds. Janine Schneider (Embrace The World) crossed the finish in Daun in third place, almost 10 minutes behind.
"I'm super happy to be German Gravel Champion for another year. It was a tough race with some ups and downs for me - physically and mentally," said Schiff on her social media accounts, eluding to two falls during the race that put her in chase mode until the final 18 kilometres.
Klöser took to Instagram to recap the race, noting that she grabbed a solo lead for the elite women's division after the opening 39km of the 123km contest, and was thought to build a margin of around 2 minutes with under 30km to go. Schiff had two crashes halfway into the race but was able close her down for a final sprint, where Klöser said she "had nothing left".
"Eventually I was closed down after the longest stretch of road of the entire race with 18km to go by the winner being brought back by a strong man. It was a hard pill to swallow after being up front all day but it is not against the rules in a mixed-gender race. In the final uphill sprint, I had nothing left," she wrote on Instagram.
"Hope that BDR-German Cycling Federation will give the women a separate race in the upcoming year creating a more exciting, safe and fair environment for everyone. Happy with my shape and am staying motivated. It was amazing to see many friendly faces out at the nationals and have my family support me all the way!"
Drafting from a rider in another division was within the rules of the race. While Schiff tagged on to a male rider for much of her return to the front of the women's race, Klöser was also able to maintain a front position in a small group of men. Women are getting accustomed to new rules at other events to prevent the mixing of categories to make it a true women's only race.
Since then, many races in the US, including Unbound Gravel and events in the Life Time Grand Prix, have moved away from mixed-gender mass starts to reduce, or eliminate, issues where drafting becomes a negative dynamic. This year in Emporia, Kansas there was a 25-minute gap between the elite men and the elite women, which allowed the front pack of women to contest for a sprint finish without encroaching circumstances with men's fields.
It was Schiff's sixth gravel victory of the season, three of those coming at UCI Gravel World Series events and one at The Traka 200.
"I was crashing too many times (like I have lost my ability to handle my bike) and the MTB guys made my life so hard in descents that I was really struggling to hold their wheels. But luckily my legs were good enough to always come back and being able to drop them all at one point to get that jersey," said Voss on his Instagram account.
