Traxler goes solo for home race win in Alberta while men's competition decided in two-up sprint
The elite men's field broke into a lead group of 12 riders just 35km into the Ghost of the Gravel 118km route(Image credit: @nmah_media l Ghost of the Gravel)
Gabby Traxler (GURU Energy-Basso Bikes) and Carter Nieuwesteeg (Giant Bicycle Canada) won elite titles at Ghost of the Gravel in Water Valley, Alberta, punching their tickets in the 26th qualifier event for the 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships.
Traxler launched a solo attack from a front group of five riders after the opening 48km to finish in 4:34:42. Hanna Johansson of Sweden was 2:46 back in second and Francesca Seal another 2-plus minutes back for third.
Canadian Sidney McGill, the 2024 Pan-American Cyclo-cross champion, had been part of the lead group but faded to seventh place, just over 36 minutes behind her compatriot.
"I pushed hard and went solo for the last 70km. After third and second the past two years, I was very happy to finally get the win," Traxler wrote on Instagram, the Alberta native scoring her first gravel win of the season on home soil.
The 118 kilometres at Ghost of the Gravel featured 90% dirt roads across the foothills near Calgary, with 2,073 metres of elevation gain found on a large clockwise circuit. Early rain made for a wet surface, and Nieuwesteeg called it "the gnarliest conditions I’ve seen to date" on a course used the past two years for the Canadian Gravel Championships.
Nieuwesteeg, who was third overall at BC Bike Race, held off Oskar Stack-Michasiw in a two-up sprint for the elite men's victory, both riders finishing in 3:49:00. Finn Borstmayer then won the sprint for third against Wyatt Gaulke, 11:21 later, for an all-Canadian men's podium.
The men's race saw 12 riders grouped at the front for the first 35 kilometres, which was mainly climbing. Then on a technical descent, splits formed and the podium quartet set off together. Nieuwesteeg and Stack-Michasiw set off together with 40km to go.
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"A full day keeping it throttled with Oskar Stack-Michasiw. Pretty sweet to get the win at a UCI World Series event, definitely did not have that in the cards as mentally I’ve been fully in FGG [Fernie Gravel Grind] planning mode for the last couple weeks," Nieuwesteeg wrote on social media. "I guess Gravel World Champs in Australia is now calling."
Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series was the second stop for the series in Canada, taking place on back-to-back weekends with OG Classique in Quebec. The next round of the series will be July 5 in Germany for Hegau Gravel Festival.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
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