Belgian Waffle Ride – Joe Goettl and Flavia Oliveira Parks snap up solo wins in Utah

Joe Goettl (GoettlMedia/Pain Academy/Good Life) and Flavia Oliveira Parks (Excel Sports p/b Specialized) both rode over the line at the Belgian Waffle Ride Utah to claim solo victories in the Cedar City race.

Goettl (Cinch Cycling) won the 116 mile (187km) race in five-and-a-half hours, finishing with a gap of nearly four minutes to Carter Anderson (Ventum Racing) in second and Griffin Hoppin in third.

"This race truly holds a special place in my heart the inaugural edition in 2020 being my first top 10 in a big gravel race. This lit a fire in me to work towards getting on the top step one day," said Goettl in an Instagram post after claiming the win.

Oliveira Parks also crossed the line solo with a time of six hours, 13 minutes and 55 seconds, carving out a gap of nearly 15 minutes to Courtney Sullivan (Mamis p/b Incycle) and then it was Melissa Aitken a further three minutes back in third. Amy Cymerman was next over the line, while Courtney Sherwell (Santa Cruz SRAM) was fifth, pushing on for a long solo effort after a crash early in the event to at least get in the extra training before Unbound, with the race's new timeslot delivered to make it a tune-up event for the big battle to come.

It was also the third event of the Quad-Tripel Crown of Gravel Series, with Oliveira Parks moving up to second on the women's leaderboard in the series behind Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road). 

Russell Finsterwald (Trek-Driftless), who wasn't in Utah, continues to lead the men's category with Nate Knowles (ProTerra Racing), who came sixth at Utah, moving up to second spot. The crown will be decided in Montana at the end of June.