Russell Finsterwald takes solo win at Big Sugar Gravel

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Russell Finsterwald won the individual pro men's award at Big Sugar Gravel 2022 in Bentonville, Arkansas, on Saturday. He took a solo victory by 25 seconds ahead of Keegan Swenson, second on the day, and 31 seconds ahead of third-placed Adam Roberge.

There was no unseating Swenson from the men's overall lead in the final round of the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda, as he held on to a sizeable margin over series runner-up Alexey Vermeulen with Saturday's ride. 

"With one kilometre to go, there was a lot of cat and mouse at the end. I figured I had nothing to lose and just went for it. I'm really stoked to come out on top today," said Finsterwald, who moved into third place overall in the series with the victory.

Swenson won four of the six events to secure his overall title, which began in April with a victory over Finsterwald in the Fuego 80K MTB at the Sea Otter Classic.

"It was super hard from the start. I was on the gas all day. It was a race of attrition.  There were flats and people just cracking. It got slowly whittled down at the end," Swenson said.

"Russell and I were taking turns pushing the pace in the descents, we were comfortable in these loose descents, it was an advantage for us just to make it hard. We played to our strengths."

How it unfolded

The 104.1-miler route began in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas, and travelled westward and north into southern Missouri before looping back to the start-finish area.

Organisers designed one of the most challenging gravel courses featuring 7,000 feet of elevation gain held across rarely maintained gravel roads with loose rock composition, a few water crossings and bridges that also made for one of the most picturesque routes on the LifeTime Grand Prix series.

The peloton set out onto the rolling hills of the Ozark mountain countryside under a blanket of clouds and strong winds blowing 20 miles per hour from the south, which would become a headwind for the finish.

A small group formed in the opening 15 miles of the race with series leader Keegan Swenson, Russell Finsterwald, Logan Owen, John Borstelmann and Peter Stetina, followed by a large group further back.

The front group swelled at the 20-mile marker to then also include Michael Garrison, Cole Paton, Lachlan Morton, Griffen Easter, Bradyn Lange, Alex Howes, Jordi Meeus, Adam Roberge, Brennan Wertz, Nicholas Roche, and Alexey Vermeulen.

The first official checkpoint was at mile 37.7 in Pineville, Missouri, where the Little Sugar Creek and Big Sugar Creek merge and form the Elk River. Over the next 15 miles the lead group settled in with 12 riders, with the selection including Paton, Borstelmann, Stetina, Roberge, Swenson, Vermeulen, Roche, Howard Grotts, Owen, Howes, Easter and Finsterwald.

A lone attack came from Borstelmann and he gained nearly two minutes on the chase group in the last section of the race. The second checkpoint was at mile 73.8 and had the riders in the predicted headwind as they were pushed by a local brewery nestled in a tiny hamlet located less than five miles from the return across the Arkansas border. But Borstelmann punctured on a narrow part of the course  before the checkpoint when he tried to avoid a race vehicle. 

That lead was quickly swept away as the complexion of the race changed when the foursome of Finsterwald, Swenson, Roberge, and Vermeulen took over, and were joined by Howes and Roche. 

“Borstelmann, he was on a day. He flatted at a big rock compression at the bottom of a two-track and it was poor timing because the race was really starting there. I’m not sure he would have made it to the finish, but he would have played in the final," Vermeulen commented at the finish.

The six rode together until 10 miles to go, and it became four. Across each descent on the rolling final miles, Swenson and Finsterwald attacked to try to shake the other two. It was a surprise move by Finsterwald in the city limits of Bentonville gave him the win.

“I had nothing left at that point, I was just playing my cards,” Vermeulen said, noting the wind played a major role with attrition as well. “The wind was pretty crazy. And Russell had a lot to gain. He moved into third in the Grand Prix after a long season.”