Rosa Klöser and Magnus Bak Klaris rip across Icelandic lava fields for solo wins at The Rift

Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) and Magnus Bak Klaris (PAS Racing) used solo efforts to win The Rift Gravel elite titles on Saturday, earning the plus-10% scoring in points for the Gravel Earth Series (GES).

Klöser, who was second at The Traka 200 and third at Santa Vall, earned her first GES victory of the season, while Klaris posted his second, having won the two-day Santa Vall opener in February.

Unlike last year's two-up sprint wins by Simen Nordahl Svendsen (PAS Racing) and Cecily Decker (Scuderia Pinarello), this year's champions broke free from lead groups for victories, Klöser going alone at the front after the first 45km of the 200km contest.

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Just over six-and-a-half minutes after Klöser crossed the line, Geerike Schreurs (SD Worx-Protime), who was third last year, completed the course for solo second. Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing), who came into The Rift leading the women's GES series rankings with wins at Tierra de Campos and The HIlls, followed 2:45 later for third.

Klöser earned her third gravel victory in the last five outings. For Schreurs, it was her fourth podium in her last five outings, two of those wins in the UCI Gravel World Series. It was the first time the duo faced off since Unbound Gravel 200 in the spring, where the German finished fourth and Schreurs was seventh.

The women's field scattered across the course, only places 9 and 10 decided in a sprint this year, with Valeria Kleiner edging Hafdis Sigurdardottir. Schreurs described The Rift as "raw" and "incredibly stunning", as she rode 120km solo for second.

"Iceland’s raw, volcanic landscape is incredible stunning, but it’s hard to capture how brutal it is to race a bike across this terrain. Very impressive ride by Rosa Klöser who was flying early in the race. And even that I tried, there was no way to catch her," she wrote on Instagram. "After riding 120km solo I'm grateful to come away with second place at The Rift."

The elite men's race had whittled down a handful of riders at the mid-point, with the Dane following the wheels of Ferreira with 60km to go as the duo had made separation from the rest of the field.

Klaris attacked in the final kilometres and rode solo for the men's title, edging Tierra de Campos winner Ferreira by 19 seconds. Petr Vakoč (Canyon) secured third, 6:24 back and four minutes ahead of Tobias Mørch Kongstad (PAS Racing).

"The course was harder, rougher, and more rocky than expected, the climbs steeper. It was super exhausting...and the scenery? Unreal," Klaris wrote on Instagram.

It was a rainy start in Hvolsvöllur to the 200km day of racing, with overcast skies and the now-slippery volcanic ash challenging the pro fields in the shadow of the active volcano Hekla. A new course for 2025 featured 2,600 metres of elevation gain across 85% gravel roads through the dark lava fields in the highlands of southern Iceland.

Last year's men's champion Svendson finished 13th, just over 18 minutes back. Among the notable riders who did not finish were Hugo Drechou and Nathan Haas, who were both in the top 10 last year, and Axelle Dubau-Prévot, who was sixth last year in the women's division.

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