The run into The Traka 360 hadn't exactly been ideal for Rosa Klöser as while she didn't exactly go badly at the Sea Otter Classic Gravel in mid-April, finishing seventh, it wasn't the start to Life Time Grand Prix series the series the German rider had been looking for. However, she quickly bounced back at The Traka 360 which means Klöser is bound to once again be lining up as a key favourite at Unbound 200.
"I mean, I think it's fair to say that my first Life Time outing at Sea Otter wasn't the greatest," Klöser told Cyclingnews in Girona after her race winning run at The Traka 360. "I came off a huge block of road racing and I came over right from Roubaix, and it was very last minute because of some cancelled flights."
Klöser had explained in last week's How She Won podcast that she was rebooking flights in the team bus on the way to Paris-Roubaix after a last minute-call up then the extra hurdle of airport strikes. She then flew out Monday to arrive tired and jet-lagged in the United States with little time to adapt before Friday's Sea Otter gravel event.
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"I felt terrible at the race but I think sometimes failure really motivates you and I'm super happy that I could turn it around today," said Klöser.
That road block with Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto helped her in Girona in other ways too, with those efforts at races including Strade Bianche, Milan-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix – which included a long early breakaway – yielding dividends on the gravel on on Friday.
"I mean for sure I think it helps me for the strategic element," said Klöser when asked if the road block was beneficial for her gravel racing. "But it also gives me the upper end power because today I could actually see that even after eight hours I still had some VO2 left, which surprised myself, so I think that's definitely helpful."
Klöser's strength was clearly evident from beginning to end. She had already helped break up the race right at the start, pushing near the top of the first climb and helping carve out what was initially a group of four at the front, including defending champion Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing), Axelle Dubau-Prévot (EF Education-Oatly) and Geerike Schreurs (Specialized Off-Road). Migoń crashed and then had a mechanical which took her out of the running and Schreurs was gapped, but still not giving in as the race progressed.
"On the long climb in the north, it was basically Axelle and me," said Klöser. "But I turned around once and saw Gee pretty darn close, so she was definitely putting in a good job, but then I decided it was go time."
It was with just over 90km left that she took off and by the time Klöser crossed the line in Girona the gap to her nearest rival had pulled out to a substantial 12:53.
"I didn't know the gap at all so I was like 'Is it one minute? Is it five minutes? Is it ten minutes?' so I was just like, 'I'm not going to lose this race'," Klöser told organisers in an interview on the live stream as her rivals continued to roll through the finish line at the prestigious Gravel Earth Series event.
In 2025 she came second at just 44 seconds behind Specialized Off-road rider Sofia Gómez Villafañe in The Traka 200 but this time stepped up in distance and was just as determined to do the same on the podium.
"I came so close last year in the 200 and I really really wanted to win so I just kept pushing to the finish line," said Klöser.
How effective that final push was certainly isn't going to make her rivals at the Unbound 200 on May 30 rest any easier.
