Rosa Klöser edges Geerike Schreurs on debut at muddy CORE4 in Iowa for second consecutive win in Gravel Earth Series

In what turned into a battle of WorldTour European riders, Germany's Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) outsprinted Dutch rider Geerike Schreurs (SD Worx-Protime) for the elite women's victory at CORE4 in Iowa City, Iowa on Saturday.

Canadian Julien Gagne (DEVINCI) dropped his two closest rivals on heavy mud sections on the back half of the course and won the elite men's race. Adam Roberge (Felt UN1TD) took second while Tobias Kongstad (PAS Racing) was third.

In just a fourth edition, CORE4 was added to the calendar for Gravel Earth Series this year, serving up 10% bonus scoring for elite riders. Even with third place, Kongstad was a big winner as he entered the contest 10 points out of second place in the elite men's standings, led by Piotr Havik (Classifice Factory Team).

On the elite women's side, Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing) added points to her GES overall lead, as her teammate and series runner-up Karolina Migoń succumbed to the heavy mud in Iowa and did not finish.

Klöser was easy to spot in the front of the race much of the day with aerobars mounted to her Canyon bike, but she could not shake Schreurs. The rivals faced off just three weeks ago at The Rift in Iceland, which Klöser won by a margin of 6:33.

In Iowa, the German used a final sprint on the pavement to finish in 5:12:44 and distance Schreurs by three seconds. Emily Newsom (PAS Racing) finished third, another six minutes back.

The start from Wilsons Orchard, an 80-acre farm along Rapid Creek in Iowa City, led directly to the opening north section of the 100-mile course, with Iowa 'crushed stone' and B-roads, the local name for minimum maintenance farming lanes. Heavy rain the night before left many of the B-roads more than 'nasty', the muddy conditions causing riders to dismount and walk. Race organisers had to reroute part of the course as the singletrack was not usable.

Midway through the long course, riders navigated inside the city limits of Iowa City on a unique mix of metro trails and singletrack, then on a south-east circuit with gravel, pavement and more B-roads to the finish back at Wilson Orchard. This combination of surfaces inspired the name for the race, a core collection of four surfaces.

"It looked like a fun race, a lot of variety," Gagne told Grodio after the finish about why he came to the event. "We were supposed to have a lot of singletracks, but they were taken out [because of heavy rain]. It was still a blast. The singletrack at the front was the first big pinch point. The plan was to be at the front all day. It's also more fun to be at the front."

Gagne followed the moves of other riders, which led him to ride with Adam Roberge (Felt UN1TD) and Tobias Kongstad (PAS Racing) at the front of the race. Fellow Canadian Roberge was the first to fall back on a muddy B-road section on the southern loop headed back to the finish.

The winner of Gravel Locos earlier this year then created separation from Kongstad, who came into the race ranked third overall in the Gravel Earth Series, with five miles to go. Gagne finished in 4:37:00, 2:05 ahead of Roberge, and another 29 seconds to Köngstad.

Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost) was among the 26 elite men who completed the challenging course, finishing in eighth place, 22 minutes behind.

"We did a mud section walking. I think I just walked a bit faster. I was surprised to have a gap. We're not used to that much mud up north," he said about having to dismount and carry the bike across multiple sections of wet dirt roads on the back half of the event, accomplishing the feat with road pedals and cleats.

River Products Company, which owns quarries in the area, produces the crushed stone used on roads in Johnson County and serves as the podium sponsor for CORE4. A total cash purse of $10,000 was divided evenly among the top 10 women and top 10 men in the elite fields. River Products Company established the prize purse two years ago to honor a former employee and local cyclist, Chris Lillig, who was killed by a drunk driver while on a training ride in 1996.

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