Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark) continued to make himself at home on the top step of the podium, going solo to defend the men's elite UEC Gravel European Championships title on Sunday, while Femke Markus (Netherlands) was victorious in the three-way sprint that decided the elite women's race in Houffalize.
The 138km elite title races with 2,190m of elevation gain played out over three laps of a 70% off-road loop, starting and finishing in Houffalize, taking in forest roads and with the the climbing concentrated in the first half of each lap.
Würtz Schmidt came into his elite men's title defence with the confidence of a string of big name victories this season, including The Traka 360 and Unbound 200, and also having won the UCI Gravel World Series round in the same location last year.
"It's a really hard course but it suits me very well," said Würtz Schmidt in an interview shared on race social media. "I had a plan and I stuck to it and luckily for me I could take the win."
The two-time European champion made his move in the second half, breaking away to claim victory after 4:09:57, with more than a minute gap to Wout Alleman (Belgium), who has worn the Marathon Mountain Bike European jersey.
Belgian gravel champion Niels Vandeputte was third, more than two minutes back from Würtz Schmidt but in a close battle for the final podium spot with Eddy Le Huitouze (France).
In the elite women's race the top four were all within 30 seconds and the podium was decided by a sprint.
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Markus, fellow Dutch rider Shirin van Anrooij and Axelle Dubau-Prévot (France) all charged toward the line together. The Dutch gravel champion and her compatriot Van Anrooij gapped Dubau-Prévot on the uphill run to the line.
Markus proved the strongest in the sprint, crossing the line with a two second winning margin as she threw her arms up in celebration. Larissa Hartog added to the Dutch strength at the top of the results table, crossing the line 23 seconds back to take fourth.
"OMG I can call myself the European Champion Gravel," said Markus in a social media post, adding that she would wear the jersey with pride.
Last year's winner, Erica Magnaldi (Italy) crossed the line in seventh.
Femke Markus (Netherlands) claims the title at the UEC Gravel European Championships in Houffalize 2026 with Shirin van Anrooij (Netherlands) second and Axelle Dubau-Prévot (France) third (Image credit: UEC | Sprint Cycling Agency)
Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.
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