Sofia Gomez Villafañe wins a third consecutive Valley of Tears in tight battle with Paige Onweller while Alexey Vermeulen earns men's title at Texas gravel race

Sofia Gomez Villafane (Specialized Off-road) captured her third consecutive victory at Valley of Tears on Saturday, while Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE) won from a three-rider sprint among the elite men.

The 93-mile (150km) race went the full distance this year, after winter weather in 2025 sliced the distance in half. The third edition instead brought crosswinds and deep sand pits to disrupt the action.

Villafañe made a solo move after 30 miles when the red dirt trail entered Caprock State Park, a new part of the course. Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless) accelerated away from Emily Newsom (Ventum-BikeTiresDirect) to edge closer to the two-time Valley of Tears winner.

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At the mid-way point of the race, Villafañe had a slim edge on Onweller. Newsom rode alone in third place and Cécile Lejeune (Trek Driftless) moved into fourth position, three-and-a half minutes back. US gravel champion Lauren Stephens (Aegis x LOE) rode just 48 seconds back in fifth, with Sierra Sims (Team Winston-Salem) on her back wheel.

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On the slightly uphill dirt finish into Turkey with four sharp corners, Villafañe won the two-rider battle and earned a third bison skull trophy, a distinct wall decoration from Texas complete with horns. Onweller was just four seconds back for second place. Newsom, who won Homegrown Gravel a week ago, was 5:20 behind in third place.

Villafañe proved her consistent winning form, having already claimed victory at Santa Vall and Castellon Gravel in February. For Onweller, just to finish the race and also podium was a major achievement to "bust the cobwebs" after seven months away from racing. In 2025 Onweller suffered a neck injury and severe concussion when she was struck by a driver of a car on a ride in Arkansas.

The men's breakaway of 12 formed after the opening circuit to the west of Turkey that passed through Caprock State Park, with deep sand and lots of singletrack making it a challenge for any attacks.

Crosswinds continued and there was more savage sand on the second half of the course, but six riders moved away - Vermeulen, Simen Nordahl Svendsen (PAS Racing), Chase Wark (Lunchbox Racing), Adam Roberge (Felt-Rule28), Simon Pellaud (Cervelo-Assos-Maxxis), and Hayden Christian (MAAP-Trek). Dropping off the pace were former winner Daxton Mock, Russell Finsterwald, Will Hardin, Thomas Fuller, Kash Steele and Henry Nelson.

"So much happened, a crazy course. It's super, super sandy. There's some singletrack but the sand is so sketchy," Roberge said in an Instagram post.

Wark and Vermeulen crashed on the back of the finishing loop, but were quickly back in the lead group. With 5km to go, Vermeulen attacked on a solo effort, Svendsen close behind and Roberge went with Wark. Roberge caught the two leaders just before the final turns in Turkey to make it a three-rider sprint.

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"Stoked to get the win as we head into a big season. Took a hard tumble out there, but equipment was superb. The wind and sand were relentless," Vermeulen confirmed on social media.

The same course was used for the inaugural US Collegiate Gravel National Championships. Nate Meister from Fort Lewis College in Colorado won the men's race and Emma Kasza James from Midwestern State University in Texas won the women's event.

A total of $45,000 was handed out to pro fields across two days of racing. Friday night Dirt Crit races handed out $15,000 in top 3 prizes and mid-race primes.

Villafañe won the women's criterium for a second time. Lejeune was second and three-time US mountain bike champion Sofia Waite of the new ENVE MOG development team was third.

Mock won the men's criterium, with Christian second and Kash Steele, also on the ENVE MOG devo team, third.

Results