UCI Gravel World Series: Petr Vakoč and Nele Laing celebrate in Singen as they take victories at Hegau Gravel

The 108km SchwörerHaus Hegau Gravel Race in Singen came down to a tight battle in both the elite men's and women's categories on Sunday, with Petr Vakoč (Factor Racing) and Nele Laing (Canyon DTSwiss ATR) claiming the wins at the German round of the Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series.

It came down to a sprint for Vakoč with the Czech rider, who has so often been on the podium this year, claiming his first UCI series top step of the season with a two-second gap in the elite men's race on Simon Pellaud (Li Ning Star). Jordy Bouts (The Grip) then claimed third in a group sprint, 1:55 after Vakoč had crossed the line with a time of 3:09:29.

"I knew I need to survive the hardest climb with 25km to go be in contention for the win. It was just me and Simon after the top," said Vakoč in an Instagram post.

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"We worked well and kept building the gap. Some 5km to go, on the last steep climb I went all out and build a small gap but Simon stayed within few seconds and caught me inside last 2km," he said of the circumstances which set up the sprint finish.

In the elite women's category it was a first UCI Gravel World Series win ever for Laing as the rider who has been one of the rising stars of the season crossed the line after 3:37:01 with a four-second gap to her Canyon DTSwiss ATR teammate Larissa Hartog. Eisen Malou (Volker Wessels Wielerteam), who was third on the road last month at the Lotto Thüringen women's cycling challenge, was also third on the gravel as she crossed the line 3:35 back.

The race that played out on the trails that were home to the 2017 MTB Marathon World Championships is the only German qualifier for the UCI Gravel World Championships, which this year will be held on October 10-11 in Nannup, Western Australia.