European gravel champion Femke Markus (SD Worx-Protime) and Magnus Bak Klaris (PAS Racing) earned the victories on Saturday at Gravel Grit'n Grind in Halmstad, Sweden, which was the final UCI Gravel World Series qualifying event for the Gravel World Championships in Nannup, Australia.
It was a solo victory for both, with Markus taking out the win with a time of 4:44:28, carving out a gap of nearly one minute to her nearest rival Caroline Bome in second while Elisa Serne (Foodmaker X GravelKing) was third more than two minutes back.
"Pretty cool to win in this jersey," said Markus in an Instagram post. "Always love to race in Halmstad, the gravel roads here are so beautiful! Tried to make a hard race today and happy I could finish it off."
Bak Klaris had carved out a 51 second margin to Sondre Mokke bt the time he crossed the line in 3:58:52 while Gustav Frederik Dahl was third, a further minute behind.
Lukas Malezsewski (GVA Gold Gravel), a six-time Belgian mountain bike champion, secured the overall Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series title. Oceania gravel champion Nicole Frain (Factor Racing-Factor) entered the weekend as the women's leader in the series, competing at Pyrénées Catalanes Gravel Tour in France.
Gravel Grit'n Grind returned for a fifth time in the Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series, one of the few events that has been part of the global series since the first year in 2022. Elite men and elite women faced a 154km route across the gravel roads and forest tracks of Halland.
Results
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite men top 5
Position
Rider (Country) Team
Time Gap
1
Magnus Bak Klaris (DEN)
3:58:52
2
Sondre Rokke (DEN)
0:00:51
3
Fredrik Gustav Dahl (DEN)
0:01:51
4
Rasmus Bogh Wallin (DEN)
0:01:51
5
Andreas Stokbro Nielsen (DEN)
0:01:51
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elite women top 5
Position
Rider (Country) Team
Time Gap
1
Femke Markus (NED)
4:44:28
2
Caroline Bome (SWE)
0:00:57
3
Elisa Serné (NED)
0:02:18
4
Maaike Coljé (NED)
0:02:19
5
Clara Koppenburg (GER)
0:02:19
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Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
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