Can Karolina Migoń, Tobias Kongstad and Sofia Gomez Villafañe defend and who will step into the void in the men's 200? – Analysing contenders at The Traka

Look no further than Girona as the epicentre of off-road racing in Europe, with The Traka having quickly become a distinguished benchmark in the professional ranks. With multiple distances and challenging terrain, The Traka has a well-earned reputation, rising to fame alongside Unbound Gravel in Kansas.

The two signature events mirror each other now in distances (Traka numbers in kilometres and Unbound numbers in miles), and prominence in series competitions, the Gravel Earth Series and the Life Time Grand Prix, as well as global marketing attention, with live broadcasts to product launches. The fields are deeper than ever, as the prizes and prestige rise as well, with the Traka also serving as a litmus test for Unbound 200.

Founded by Klassmark, The Traka 200 was launched in 2019 as a two-day stage race, similar in format to February's Santa Vall. The next year organisers held one-day races for three distances, the longest at 200 kilometres, and in 2021 the 360 event was added to the schedule.

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In 2025 the 'Traka Adventure' route was added, a total route of 560km (360 plus 200), with Victor Bosoni (Cycles Méral) and Svenja Betz (Castelli SOG x Rose) earning inaugural titles. Betz was the winner of 2024 Unbound XL, the long-distance 350-mile overnight competition that is most similar to Traka Adventure.

The focus at The Traka mainly rests on the two events with Gravel Earth Series points on the line – Traka 200, covering 202km (125 miles) and 2,650 metres (8,694 feet) of elevation gain, and Traka 360, the provisional route coming in at 325km (201 miles) and 4,150 metres (13,615 feet) of elevation gain.

Mattia De Marchi (The Grip) has the most wins at The Traka 360 with three while Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing) has a pair of wins in that event. The only rider with two victories in The Traka 200 is Carolin Schiff, now leading Canyon x DT Swiss All Terrain Racing.

Can Migoń win the 360 for a third consecutive time and her PAS Racing teammate Tobias Kongstad a second time? Will Specialized Off-road dominate the Traka 200 women's race with Sofia Gomez Villafañe and Annika Langvad? Who will make a mark in this year's wide open men's 200 race?

Cyclingnews takes a look at the notable riders in these two signature races, Traka 360 taking place on Friday, May 1, and Traka 200 getting underway on Saturday, May 2. You can follow the racing live each day on Gravel Earth Series TV and there will be news and full race reports on Cyclingnews.

Traka 200 Contenders

Pro women

The defending champion Sofia Gomez Villafañe is going to be hard to beat – the Specialized Off-road rider has proven that time and time again this year claiming victory every time she has taken to the start line in 2026. As a rider whose dominance had been clear on the US stage, with three Life Time Grand Prix series wins among her impressive results, Villafañe was always going to line up at her first The Traka in 2025 as a rider to watch, but now that she has a win under her belt at the 200 and an unbeaten record this year, it's hard to imagine anyone else on the top step. Still, anything can happen in gravel racing and there are a long list of competitors lining up that hope that they will be the ones to break the winning streak.

Prominent among those in with a chance of doing just that is Nicole Frain (Factor Racing), a rider that has been on fire in Europe this season, scooping up a trio of UCI Gravel World Series victories as well as a runner-up spot. What's more, even before that, she started the season in Australia with a win at RADL GRVL which also earned her the title of Oceania champion.

Then there is Carolin Schiff (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing) who won The Traka 200 in both 2023 and 2024 so certainly has the record at the race. One thing working against the 2023 Unbound winner, though, is that the German rider is returning after a tough 2025 season which saw her take an extended period off the bike to recover from injury and health issues. However, with her history and signs of the rebuild evident with a top ten at UCI race the Gravel One Fifty on the weekend she is a rider that is hard to count out.

Then there is Annika Langvad, who was third last year, and if anything happens to her Specialized Off-road teammate Villafañe the six-time mountain bike world champion is one heck of a plan B. Also among the top finishers from last year is Cecily Decker (PAS Racing), who came fourth in 2025. PAS Racing teammate and former road professional Romy Kasper is also coming into the race off a win at Gravel One Fifty while Wendy Oosterwoud is another strong card for the squad.

Another name that has recently shown she deserves to be added to the list of contenders is Nele Laing (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing), who launched into Sea Otter Gravel Classic to take third on debut and before that took a strong fifth at The Hills. Sophie Wright (Ribble Outliers), who came second at the European Gravel Championships in 2025, is also heading into the event with strong form, having just taken out a victory at the UCI Gravel World Series race, Monaco Gravel.

Pro men

The top two riders of last year's field, Mads Würtz Schmidt and Matthew Beers, are moving to the 360 this year as are the 2024 and 2023 winners Petr Vakoč and Paul Voß so this means it's a wide open competition.

One of the standout new contenders stepping to the plate is US gravel champion Bradyn Lange (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing). Last season the win at the national championships was a real standout for the versatile rider but this season the top step is becoming more familiar. First it was an impressive victory at The Hills, beating Vakoč after launching solo. It is not, however, just an impressive European result Lange has managed to snare so far this season as he out-sprinted Keegan Swenson at Sea Otter Classic Gravel to take the win at the first Life Time Grand Prix round and therefore take the series lead.

Magnus Bak Klaris (PAS Racing) had a solid list of victories on the list last season – including The Rift, Wörthersee Gravel Race and Santa Vall – plus he was the overall Gravel Earth Series winner in 2025. It has been a slower start to 2026 but his recent fourth at Sea Otter is a sign that his form is building, perhaps just at the right time to better his eighth of last year. Among the other group of riders to look out for who finished within the first eight last year are Wout Alleman (Buff BH), Jordy Bouts (The Grip) and Daan Soete (Ridley Racing).

Then there is Simon Pellaud, who last year came eighth in The Traka 360 but this year is taking on the shorter distance, having dealt with knee problems this season. The privateer who last year came second at Unbound 200 was on the improve by Valley of Tears, snaring fifth on little training and then was ninth at the Sea Otter Classic even after having a flat tyre in the final lap.

Jordan Habets (Rose Racing Circle) has shown his form heading into the event with a win at Wörthersee Gravel Race while Cobe Freeburn (Trek Driftless) made a mark with his Mid South Gravel win. Another rider who will certainly draw eyes is Nino Schurter, with the retired mountain bike rider having taken on The Hills in March and claimed fifth.

Traka 360 Contenders

Pro women

Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing) is two-for-two at The Traka 360, and returns as the darling of the 'double' - winning 2025 Unbound Gravel 200 after striking a second time at the Gravel Earth Series race. Unlike the last two years where she had a steady build of European races, this year's selection to the Life Time Grand Prix field saw her add the long travel to northern California for Sea Otter Classic Gravel. She finished a solid fourth to start her Grand Prix effort, and now transitions back in Spain. She'll have a full squad to support her in Girona, so it will be interesting to see how her legs fire with the additional travel and racing.

Look for Morgan Aguirre in the lead group with her PAS Racing teammate Migoń. The 360 is a new event for the US rider, who twice finished third overall in the Gravel Earth Series, though at the Traka 200 she was 17th. She was ninth at Unbound Gravel 200 last year so distance isn't an issue. This season she has podiums from Spanish contests at Santa Vall and Castellon Gravel Race.

Last year's runner-up was French gravel champion Axelle Dubau-Prévot, who returns with a new road-gravel programme racing for EF Education-Oatly. After a solid 2025 season which ended with the overall title at Nedbank Gravel Burn, she has had a trio of gravel top 10s, including second at Gravel Desert, and she's fresh off 10th place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes.

Another Women's WorldTour rider who was almost unstoppable on gravel last year is Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), winning the Gravel Earth Series overall, including four races in the series. She's been on the podium twice at Traka 200, so the former Unbound Gravel 200 champion will be eager to stamp her authority on the longer distance in Spain.

Traka 360 veterans Danni Shrosbree (Rapha-Argon 18) and Geerike Schreurs (Specialized Off-Road) will be in the hunt as well. Shrosbree is most familiar with the rugged terrain, going fourth in 2024 and fifth last year. Her best finish so far this year is sixth at RADL GRVL, as she finished outside the top 20 at Sea Otter Classic Gravel. Schreurs, who was second at Traka 360 two seasons ago, returns in top early form with a victory at the 268km Gravel Desert and second at The Mid South.

One of the debutants to watch at The Traka 360 is another past winner of Unbound 200, Lauren De Crescenzo (The Feed-Argonaut-Castelli-Maxxis). She comes to Spain with a lot of racing, going 17th at Sea Otter Classic Gravel and sixth at The Growler road race but is always a threat.

Pro men

After finishing in the top five twice, Tobias Mørch Kongstad (PAS Racing) claimed an emphatic victory last year at Traka 360, riding the final 150km solo with more than five minutes to chasers at the end. He returns with PAS Racing teammate Simen Nordahl Svendsen, who was third last year, so the squad has cards to play to return to the podium.

This year the men's field has expanded with former 200km riders taking on the longer distance, including last year's Traka 200 winner Mads Würtz Schmidt and runner-up Matt Beers, both now riding for Specialized Off-Road. The Schmidt-Beers duo will be a strong offensive – the European Gravel Champion going back-to-back with recent wins at 114 Gravel and Gravel Desert and Beers adding a fourth Cape Epic title then going fifth at Sea Otter Classic Gravel.

Also moving to the 360 are Petr Vakoč (Factor Racing Team), Greg Van Avermaet (Basso Bikes), and Paul Voß (Autsaid x Rose Bikes), who last competed here in 2023 and won The Traka 200. Vakoč presents the biggest threat in this group as he was fourth at Traka 200 last year and went on for seven podiums in gravel races, with a victory at The Gralloch. This year he has shown early form with seconds at Sahara Gravel stage race and the Hills.

Riders on form who could surprise on a first-time entry at The Traka include BWR Arizona winner Russell Finsterwald (LOOK), Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL winner Andrew L'Esperance (3T Bike-Maxxis-Pearl Izumi), Unbound Gravel 200 winner Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA-RCC), as well as former WorldTour riders Thomas De Gendt (PowerPlus Gravel Team) and Romain Bardet (Factor Racing Team), the Frenchman having three wins in four races so far this season.

The Traka 360 is the European gravel debut for Jones. He comes in with a pair of runner-up finishes to start the year at RADL GRVL and the Mid South. The defending Life Time Grand Prix overall winner placed 20th at Sea Otter Classic Gravel, but said "I went faster and got a similar ranking as last year" so was happy with the start of the series for 2026.

The veterans in the field who could press the new guard and surprise at the end include three-time 360 winner Mattia de Marchi (The Grip), 2024 winner Peter Stetina (Canyon) and 2024 Unbound 200 winner Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost), a Traka first-timer.

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