Rosa Klöser (Canyon Factory Racing) and Wout Alleman (Buff Megamo) won elite races at Ranxo Gravel in Spain on Sunday, the final round for the Gravel Earth Series (GES). For Klöser, there was a double reward at the finish in Ponts, the German securing the overall series title for elite women after posting her fourth win.
Belgian rider Alleman outsprinted Magnus Bak Klaris (PAS Racing) at the line to win on his first appearance in a series event. Klaris earned enough points to be crowned elite men's champion of the GES.
GES offered a range of scoring opportunities across 23 global events between February and September this season, Ranxo Gravel one of five races, with 20% bonus scoring for top finishers. The stakes were high for the 160km contest, offering 1,930 metres of climbing with rocky sections and technical trails in fast and dry conditions, with top contenders making the trip to Spain for the finale.
The women stared first at 7:45 a.m. local time, followed by the men 55 minutes later. Klöser, Karolina Migoń, Morgan Aguirre and Geerike Schreurs all had chances to secure top series positions for elite women, while the men's title was a battle between Klaris and Piotr Havik, and Tobias Mørch Kongstad and Peter Stetina had very outside chances in the scoring possibilities.
Across the first climbs of the elite women's field, Klöser was joined by US duo Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing) and Sarah Sturm (Specialized-Sram), but soon broke away on a solo effort to win in 5:29:41.
Aguirre finished second, 4:18 back, to secure third overall in the series, while Sturm completed the day’s podium in third, another 2:30 back, and placed fifth in the series standings. Schreurs finished fifth at Ranxo and fourth in the series.
Klöser finished on the podium of all six of the GES events in which she took part, with victories at The Rift, CORE4, Gravel Worlds and then Ranxo Gravel. Karolina Migoń, who recovered from a crash to finish fourth in Ponts, finished second overall, having won The Traka 360 and Lost & Found during her seven races.
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The elite men's race came down to four riders at the front - Klaris, Piotr Havik (Classified x Rose Factory Team), European gravel champion Mads Würtz Schmidt (PAS Racing) and Hans Becking (Buff Megamo).
A touch of wheels between PAS teammates Klaris and Würtz Schmidt brought down the latter, and he was forced to abandon. Becking was seen in a video stopping to help his competitor try to remount his bike, ending Becking's chance for a podium (he finished seventh).
With Alleman and Klaris left to battle the rest of the way, the Belgian would sprint across the line first in a time of 4:42:59. Though two seconds back for second, Klaris secured the GES title with his runner-up spot.
The men's podium was completed by Frederik Raßmann (Rose Racing Circle), who narrowly beat Petr Vakoč (Canyon) by one second, who finished fourth in the GES standings, ahead of Tim Wollenberg (BIXS Far_Out Cycling).
Piotr Havik (Classified x Rose Factory Team) and Traka 360 winner Tobias Kongstad (PAS Racing) did not compete at Ranxo and held on to second and third, respectively, overall in the series.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
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