Lorena Wiebes clinches win in small group sprint at Marly Grav as Wout van Aert carves out solo celebration at the UCI Gravel World Series race

Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) may have been in the midst of a break in their road schedule but they were still celebrating victory on the weekend, making winning moves at the Marly Grav Race.

It was a big name stacked race of the Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series, with men's gravel world champion Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Unbound 2023 winner Carolin Schiff (Canyon x DT Swiss All Terrain Racing) just some of the other fierce competitors on the start line in the Netherlands.

Wiebes was part of a small lead group heading toward the final stages of the race in Limburg, the five out front including Nele Laing - who was recently on the podium of both The Traka 200 and the Sea Otter Classic - AG Insurance-Soudal riders Amandine Muller and Ilse Pluimers plus Larissa Hartog (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing), with Schiff just under 30 seconds further back.

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Wiebes was clearly at the advantage as it all came down to a sprint and she was quick to lay down the power as the line came in sight. It was clear that no one could challenge the fast finishing gravel world champion, who took a clear victory, with no one even close to being able to challenge her once she launched. Hartog came second and Pluimers third.

“I felt good,” Wiebes said in a media release from the race. “We had a strong group at the front and had to make our way through the field past riders from the other categories.

"It’s fantastic to win in the rainbow jersey in my own backyard. It was a tough race, but I really enjoyed the route and the atmosphere along the way,” she said after claiming the sprint win.

Van Aert, on the other hand, carved out a solo victory in the 150km event in south Limburg, which began on the Cauberg and played out over three laps of a 46km loop that swept past the marl caves near Bemelen and through the gardens of Château St. Gerlac.

It was around 20km before the finish line that Van Aert decided to launch, jumping from behind the rainbow jersey clad Vermeersch. He tried to go out in pursuit but once the Visma-Lease a Bike rider decided to take off there was simply no catching him.

"My main goal today was to stay out of trouble," said Van Aert in a team release. "I tried to stay near the front the whole time to avoid risks as much as possible.

"When there were eventually six of us left, it became a lot easier, because we no longer had to fight for our positions. I felt I still had something left in the tank and tried to accelerate on one of the tougher sections. That was a good moment."

After Van Aert sailed through the line in Valkenburg solo, Belgian gravel champion Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team) crossed 44 seconds back to take second by claiming a three way sprint battle ahead of Rick Ottema (Foodmaker GravelKing) and Vermeersch.

The top 25% of riders in each category qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships, this year being held on October 10-11 in Nannup, Western Australia. There are also wildcard entries decided by national federations.

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