Oregon Trail Gravel: Cécile Lejeune dominates for women, Hugo Drechau holds off Griffin Easter

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French riders Cécile Lejeune (CCB p/b Levin Law Group) and Hugo Drechau (Groove Gravel) outlasted top contenders across five days of racing to secure the overall titles at the 2024 Oregon Trail Gravel stage race. The 350-mile (563km) competition through the heart of Oregon’s Cascade mountains concluded in Bend on June 30, and provided top points in the Gravel Earth Series for the first time.

Lejeune, who is based in Tucson, Arizona, dominated the five days of off-road competition with four stage podiums, including a solo victory on Sunday to complete a sweep of victories across the final three days, posting a total time of 17:35:54. She took the start line in Oregon as she was not part of the CCB team which traveled to Europe to compete in this week's Volta Portugal Feminana.

“Gravel Racing was still very new to me and gravel stage racing even more. It was with mix of excitement and nerves that I toed the line on stage one. The first days were a struggle but I found my legs through the week,” Lejeune told Cyclingnews.

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“I finished with two really strong days where I was out in front on my own most of the day. It was amazing racing with a group of strong women and even more to share a whole week with them. I’m looking forward to racing some more gravel, boosted by this win in Oregon.”

US rider Serena Gordon (Sunnyside Sports) was closest to Lejeune, more than 31 minutes back, for second overall. The five-rider podium was completed by Flavia Oliveira Parks (Excel Sports p/b Specialized), Morgan Aguirre (Enough Cycling) and Briton’s Danni Shrosbree (Felt Un1ted).

Drechou, the recently crowned marathon mountain bike champion of France, held off USA’s Griffin Easter (Opicure Foundation) for the GC win, the two separated by three minutes, the Frenchman posting a time of 15:14:13.

Canadian Rob Britton  (Factor-Ovrlnd) was third, 7:34 back. The five-rider podium was completed by New Zealand's Cameron Jones (POA Racing) in fourth and US rider Peter Stetina (Wahoo Wheelin) in fifth. 

In 2024 the ‘Pioneer’ long course offered top points for pro divisions as the third of five instalments of the ‘Global Event’ designation for the Gravel Earth Series. With third overall in Oregon, Britton took the Gravel Earth Series overall lead for men, a slim 16 points ahead of Hans Becking and 26 points ahead of Stetina. 

US rider Sarah Sturm continued to lead the women's overall, while Oliveira Parks and Shrosbree moved into sixth and seventh in the women's standings. Geerike Schreurs, who was sixth in Oregon, moved into fifth place in the series. 

How it unfolded

The Oregon Trail Gravel started and finished in Bend, Oregon, traversing 350 miles (563km) with 29,527 feet (9,000 metres) of elevation gain, organisers providing four fully-supported fireside campouts each night. 

Stage 1 was a 66.3-mile course, half of the distance on gravel, from Bend to Gilchrist. A dry day with winds that kicked up the dust ended with a three-up sprint for men through high-terrain evergreen forests, Jones winning ahead of Frenchman Alexys Brunel (Groove Gravel) in second and Stetina in third. 

Dubau-Prevot Axelle (Groove Gravel) scored the stage 1 victory for women, crossing the line solo after a little more than three hours. In a three rider-sprint for the other podium spots, Michael Thompson (Orange Seal-Specialized-Shimano) took second, with Gordon third and Oliveira Parks fourth. 

The second day of racing featured an interesting 92-mile route from Gilchrist to Oakridge, with 4,761 feet of elevation gain but 8,045 feet of descending. It was on the rocky downhill sections that many riders suffered, including Stetina, who suffered a heavily-damaged rear wheel and lost 18 minutes to both Brunel and Jones, who finished 1-2, with Drechou taking third.

The shortest day was stage 3, a 30.5-mile circuit around Greenwaters Park Oakridge that was contested as a time trial using three timed sections, a single track segment then a four-mile ascent followed by a three-mile bumpy descent. Brunel took a seven-second win over Van den Ham, with Jones in third. For the women, Lejeune captured the victory, 1:04 over Thompson and another 1:29 over Aguirre.

Stage 4 was the queen stage, with 59.3 of the 83.1 total miles on gravel and more than 9,000 feet of elevation gain from Oakridge through the Willamette National Forest north to the McKenzie River. Easter outkicked Stetina to the line for a stage victory, while Drechou took third. Lejeune then took another stage win, this time 10 minutes ahead of second-placed Justine Barrow and Parks in third.

The final day of racing started with a shuttle transfer for riders to the Ray Benson Sno-Park at Santiam Pass. From there, racing proceeded for 72 miles with heavy sand on dry dirt roads to the finish at Oregon State University in Bend. 

Van den Ham won the two-up sprint against Easter, with Stetina in third. While Easter moved to second overall, it wasn’t enough time to displace Drechou, who secured the GC win. Lejeune made it three for three with stage wins and took the GC title.

“Stage 4 and 5 had big days of climbing and proved to be where cracks started forming for other riders,” Easter recapped on Instagram. “I threw everything I had into the final day and took back 4-ish minutes from leader Hugo Drechou but he was too strong and kept the lead.”

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