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 part of the invitation-only field of the Life Time Grand Prix therefore taking 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 the kept the superb early season run going for the the three-time Life Time Grand Prix series winner. "I'm having a good year" said Villafañe after adding the win 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 Migon 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 referred to 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.

More to come ...