Petr Vakoč and Basia Borowiecka took out the 13th round of the Trek UCI Gravel World Series on a climb heavy course at the Gravel Adventure in Świeradów-Zdrój, Poland.
Vakoč, who came second at Unbound Gravel 200, came over the line in 3:19:25 which was 39 seconds ahead of the 28-year-old German Immanuel Stark (Rsv Erzgebirge E. V.) and another minute later it was Pawel Bernas (Jpg-2 Team). Then it was Seppe Rombouts (Rb Zelfbouw Uct) and Bora-Hansgrohe professional Ide Schelling who rounded out the top five.
“Demanding course with plenty of climbing and some very technical parts and hard racing from the start, perfect mix,“ said Vakoč in an Instagram post.
Borowiecka (Appetiteforsport Bike Poznań) made it a home nation win in the women's category, crossing the line in 4:03:57, with last year's winner, retired mountain biker Maja Wloszczowska (Rondo.cc), four minutes behind in the race just near her hometown.
"I couldn't miss it despite too much riding recently," said Wloszczowska in an Instagram post. "And it went much better than expected until the 90th km."
"Last 14km I had a 'turtle speed' because of cramps and simply no endurance rides in the past 4 months. so super happy about my 2nd overall and 1st in W40 but most of all I'm happy with meeting friends and hosting so many riders from abroad who really enjoyed our course in Izery Mountains."
Dutch rider Noa Jansen came third with Hanna Johansson and Theresa Rindley Bachl just behind.
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The demanding 105km course with more than 2000 metres of elevation gain wound its way through the woods and slopes ot the Izerskie Mountains started with a 7km climb with an average gradient of 6.5%.
Last year the race was won by Christian Kreuchler (Mobil Krankenkasse Cycling Team) – who came seventh in 2023 – and Wloszczowska (Rondo.cc), who took out the 2022 victories on a 98km course. This year, organisers modified and lengthened the course for the second edition of the Polish qualifier in the Trek UCI Gravel World Series.
The next round of the Gravel World Series is the Gravel Grit 'n Grind in Halmstad, Sweden on August 19. The races act as qualifiers for the UCI Gravel World Championships which is on October 7 in Veneto, Italy.
Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.
