Stetina defends title at Belgian Waffle Ride Utah

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Peter Stetina (case of the nightly Waffle Sweats) repeated victory at Belgian Waffle Ride Utah for a second year in a row. It was a second time that Stetina had to hold off Griffin Easter (Opicure Foundation p/b OrangeSeal Gravel Team) for the victory, this time bringing it to a decisive sprint at the finish line in Cedar City. 

“We were sprinting for the grass. There’s a corner with 50 metres to go and you hope on the grass. I think when you come into the grass you know you have the upper hand. I was lucky to hit the grass first and take the inside line knowing he would have to come around me wide to cover more ground,” Stetina said about his charge to the line against Easter, but added with a laugh, “So it was a tactical sprint, but I think I won the first sprint of my career.”

Brennan Wertz (Above Category) completed the podium in third place, a little less than two minutes behind the Stetina-Easter battle. Adam Roberge (Jukebox) then outsprinted Innokenty Zavyalov (Mazda Lauf Factory Racing) for fourth place.

In early July, Easter got the better of Stetina by four seconds on the dusty gravel at Crusher in the Tushar in Beaver, Utah, just 50 miles to the north of Cedar City, as Easter finished third behind Cole Paton and winner Keegan Swenson.

Easter was not completely empty handed, as he won the King of the Mountain and King of the Sprint titles. The King of the Dirt award, based on fastest times in a trio of off-road sectors, went to Eddie Anderson, with Easter second.

The 132-mile route with 6,847 in the high desert of southern Utah was shorter and has less climbing than BWR California, but the start elevation of Cedar City was much higher at 5,800 feet above sea level. The course had nine road sectors with “unroad” and the majority of the route was 85% gnarly - sandy truck trails, rocky single track, gate crossings, rutted gravel roads and plenty of hilly terrain.

BWR Utah was the third installment in the Quadrupel Crown of Gravel series. Stetina leads the men’s standings, which are based on overall times from California, North Carolina, Utah and Kansas events. BWR Kansas will be held in Lawrence on October 15, the Waffle ride covering 125 miles with 90% of the roads dirt or gravel.

“Everyone was tightening it up and sharing the load. It was a breath of fresh air because it was a hard race and we were all pushing it, but it wasn’t everything,” Stetina added after the award ceremony.

“My last races will be Lawrence, because this Quadrupel Crown means something to me, and then the Big Sugar Gravel.” 

Big Sugar in Arkansas will wrap up the six-race Life Time Grand Prix on October 22. He is positioned fourth overall, 17 points behind men’s series leader Swenson, who competed for Team USA at the UCI Road World Championships in Australia this week.