Gravel World Series: Wendy Oosterwoud and Anton Albrecht score first wins of the season in Poland at Gravel Adventure

Dutch rider Wendy Oosterwoud (PAS Racing) and Germany's Anton Albrecht (Rembe | Rad-Net) won the elite titles on Saturday at Gravel Adventure in Poland.

The Gravel Challenge was held for a fifth year as a Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series event in Poland’s Izerskie Mountains, a dry, dusty day on a 120km course with 2,355 metres of elevation gain.

The route began from Jakuszyce with a 10km loop that included an early 2.6 km climb with an average gradient of 6.6%. Riders passed the start line again to enter a larger 52km eastern loop that included a 7.7km paved climb with gradients over 9%. A final 2km gravel climb set up a 1.6km downhill finish.

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For Oosterwoud, it was her first gravel victory of the season, having finished on the podium at three other European events. She made a solo move with under 40km to go on the dirt descent from the longest climb of the day, riding at an average speed of 26.7 kph to finish in 4:29:56.

Irina Lützelschwab of Switzerland finished 2:21 back in second, while Germany's Romy Kasper was third at 6:05 back. Kasper competed at last weekend's Unbound Gravel 200, finishing seventh in the elite women's field.

Albrecht timed his move on the 7.7km final ascent, surging away from a lead group of 15 riders. He crossed the line in 3:49:14, averaging 31.4 kph, which was just enough to hold off a late attack by the Czechia duo of Petr Vakoč and Filip Adel. Vakoč finished runner-up for a second year in a row, this time 1:10 back, while Adel crossed the line three seconds later.

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