Sea Otter Classic Gravel: Bradyn Lange holds off Keegan Swenson to take men's victory while Sofia Gomez Villafañe fends off Lauren Stephens in women's race

Bradyn Lange (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing) and Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) won the elite races at Sea Otter Classic Gravel on Thursday. Both riders form part of the invitation-only field of the Life Time Grand Prix, so took the top spots on the leaderboards after the opening round.

Lange and Keegan Swenson (Specialized Off-road) came to the final 180-degree, left-hand corner together. The US gravel champion gained daylight as he took the inside line in the tight turn and led the defending Sea Otter champion across the final 100 metres to earn the victory.

The inside line, however, didn't work as well for the women's US gravel champion, with Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Land of Enchantment) trying that same tactic on the second last corner but ceding ground as a result. That helped give Villafañe a solid gap to hold through the final corner and past the finish line.

It was a victory that kept the superb early season run going for the three-time Life Time Grand Prix series winner. "I'm having a good year," said Villafañe after adding the victory to her early-season tally, having already scooped up both stages and the overall at Santa Vall, Castellon Gravel, Valley of Tears and The Mid South.

It was, however, a tight battle right through to the final stages of the race with a group of four striking out on the front during the late Lookout Ridge climb and staying together as the race headed into the final stretch to the line on the Laguna Seca Raceway.

"With the new finish they send us down to the bottom of the track and all the way to the bottom of the corkscrew, so I really knew I had to save a bullet for that kick," Villafañe said in an interview on the Life Time livestream.

Nele Laing (Canyon x DT Swiss) was the first of the four to put the pressure on through that final section, dropping Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing). But then when Villafañe came over the top through the steep section only Stephens could hold her wheel, setting up the two-way battle for the victory.

Villafañe crossed the line with a time of 5:10:39 – a pace slowed by the windy conditions and racing tactics – with Stephens two seconds back. The relative newcomer to gravel, Laing, was third and Migoń took fourth, nine seconds behind Villafañe but nearly 30 seconds ahead of fifth-placed Kate Courtney (She Sends Racing).

In contrast, it was a quick edition of the race for the men, with Lange's time of 4:14:48 on the 90-mile course, 5 minutes, 37 seconds faster than Swenson's winning time last year.

It was Lange's second win of the season, taking The HIlls in Italy three weeks ago. This win was significant as his first major victory on US soil while wearing the US gravel national champion jersey.

"This is the first time I've gone into Sea Otter with confidence, that I could actually win. I just believed I could win and did my best," Lange said in an interview on the live stream.

Lange and Swenson had a slim lead of less than 10 seconds to Matt Beers (Specialized Off-road and Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE) as they hit the uphill into Laguna Seca Raceway on the infamous twisting paved section known as the 'corkscrew'.

Swenson took the lead on a transition back to gravel, but the cat-and-mouse started again when they returned to the final paved run. As the terrain switched back and forth in the last half mile back to dirt, sand and then pavement, Lange had the advantage as the second rider, watching every twitch made by Swenson, who was competing in his first race since early February when he fractured his hip.

Vermeulen kept on the gas in the chase and finished 11 seconds back for third. Magnus Bak Klaris (PAS Racing - Factor) was fourth, another 7 seconds back, leaving Beers alone for fifth place, 43 seconds behind the winner.

Men's race - How it unfolded

There were 137 starters in the men's field, but it was three riders who led at the halfway point - Simon Pellaud (Cervelo-Assos-Maxxis), Anton Stensby (Fara Cycling - Campagnolo) and Bak Klaris.

Once the race began the third lap of the 30-mile circuit, the three leaders were joined by Lange, Brendan Johnston (Giant), and Matthew Wilson, with 15 seconds to Vermeulen, Swenson, and Cobe Freeburn (Trek Driftless). Closing to the first chase group was Beers, Cole Paton (Giant Bicycles), Jordy Bouts (The Grip) and Andrew L'esperance (3T Bike-Maxxis-Pearl Izumi). Meanwhile, Peter Stetina (Canyon) dropped off the pace.

Eight riders then went together to the base of Lookout climb - Bouts, Bak Klaris, Freeburn, Paton, Vermeulen, Swenson, Beers and Lange. A pre-race contender not in the chase, but eight minutes back, was Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA - RCC).

On the final climb, the Specialized Off-road tactics came into play with Beers launching a solo flyer. But near the top of the Lookout ascent, on a steep section, Swenson moved past his teammate Beers, and only Lange was able to stay with the defending champion. Vermeulen moved past Beers as well, but then that pair began to work together until Laguna Seca when Bak Klaris was able to wedge ahead of Beers.

The decisive move came in the final corner for the lead duo, Lange's swooping acceleration giving him the win.

"I was just trying to empty it all on the last climb. This is what that race is all about, really just trying to save as much as you can for that last lap, that last climb, and managing gaps," Swenson said on the live broadcast.

"I tried to get rid of him [Lange] over the corkscrew, but he fought his way back. Unfortunately, I was leading into the last [section], in the sand here and I wasn't quite sure how to play it. I was still a little bit nervous with the healing pelvis. So I wasn't trying to go into that last corner and you know, crash us both. I was a little bit hesitant. He went out the inside and did what he had to do. It was a good move on his end."

That good move has sent Lange straight to the top of the Life Time Grand Prix leaderboard. Following Swenson and Vermeulen Beers is fourth in the ranking, given the rider who placed fourth in the race, Magnus Bak Klaris, isn't part of the series.

Women's race - How it unfolded

There were 73 riders on the elite women's start list and the peloton stayed together through the first 40 miles of the race. The splits, however then began with Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing) and Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM-MAAP) attacking and taking off - but Villafañe reeled them back in.

The attrition, but also the regrouping, continued and by around the midway point of the third and final lap the front bunch was around 20 riders strong. That group included Villafañe, Klöser, Kate Courtney (She Sends Racing), Migoń, Stephens, Cecile Lejeune (Trek Driftless), Laing, Hayley Preen (Factor Racing), Samara Sheppard and Cecily Decker (PAS Racing).

The attacks kept rolling but so did the efforts to reel them back in and the windy conditions didn't offer much incentive for riders to take off solo. So the waiting game was one many were happy to play.

"I was really patient today," second-placed finisher Stephens said in a post-race interview shown on the livestream. "I didn't know how I'd feel, and it's such a course of attrition with the amount of climbing we do out here."

The single track section thinned the field a little, but the key move would wait for the long Lookout Ridge climb, where Laing drove hard and the group that also included Villafañe, Migon and Stephens got its gap, with Courtney losing the fight to rejoin.

From then it quickly became clear that the race would be decided from among the lead group of four, as they weren't going to ease up the pressure now they had had that all-important split.

Migoń had looked like she was fighting to hold on over the top of Lookout Ridge, but held firm then, though she was the first to lose contact once the final battle began to unfold on the raceway. Laing continued her impressive debut, making moves and being quick to respond to those of others, with the rider who came fifth at The Hills Gravel last month setting off the final round of attacks in the run to the line. First Migoń dropped away, then the counterattack from Villafañe also shook Laing loose.

It all came down to those final corners for Villafañe and Stephens, who had come straight from taking the overall win at Redlands Bicycle Classic. The road form was clearly good, but a tactical move didn't work to plan, with Stephens deciding to try the inside line on the second last corner after having watched Villafañe test that option on the second last lap. The Specialized Off-road rider, however, had decided after that test that it was actually better to stick to the other side and that gave her an advantage that Stephens just couldn't close down before the line.

Villafañe's win has also put her at the top of the Life Time Grand Prix leaderboard, with Stephens second and, given Laing isn't a competitor in the series, Migoń is third.

Life Time Grand Prix Leaderboard - top 5s