It was a win for Joscelin Lowden (UNO-X Mobility) and recently crowned British gravel champion Connor Swift at the Graean Cymru UCI Gravel World Series race on Sunday, with the Ineos Grenadiers racer breaking away with his cousin and teammate Ben Swift.
The WorldTour pairing carved out a substantial gap on the rest of the field during the elite men's race in Wales with the mud-covered duo crossing the line together to take the top two spots after 3:20:51. Ben Thomas, who came first on stage 2 of Raiders Gravel, was third as he crossed the line 4:20 back from the Swifts.
It was a solo victory for Lowden in the women's elite race, with the one-time holder of the UCI Hour Record crossing the line 1:14 ahead of Amelia Mitchell while in third it was Lizi Brooke (Pro-Noctis-200° Coffee-Hargreaves Contracting), just ten seconds further back.
Graean Cymru, or Gravel Wales, was one of the final qualifiers for the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships, with the top 25 per cent of riders per category securing a place in the race for the rainbow jersey.
The championships are being held in Belgium this year on October 5-6. Connor Swift claimed bronze at last year's second edition in Italy, coming over the line behind Matej Mohorič (Slovenia) and Florian Vermeersch (Belgium).
| Position | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connor Swift | 3:20:51 |
| 2 | Ben Swift | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
| 3 | Ben Thomas | +4:20 |
| 4 | Tom Martin | +4:24 |
| 5 | Ryan Christensen | +11:26 |
| Position | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joscelin Lowden | 4:01:16 |
| 2 | Amelia Mitchell | +1:14 |
| 3 | Lizi Brooke | +1:24 |
| 4 | Lucy Lee | +7:39 |
| 5 | Monica Greenwood | +9:10 |
-
Paris-Roubaix Men LIVE: The cobbles begin at the Hell of the North
30 cobbled sectors spread over 258.3km including a rapid run of five opening sectors as the elite men's peloton tackles the Hell of the North -
'Fewer minutes but more eyeballs' – ASO race director defends reduction in women's Paris-Roubaix broadcast and his 'moron' comments on Rockets boss Bas Tietema
'Coverage is not just about watching a race. It is about visibility, value, and the future of the sport' The Cyclists' Alliance speaks out about decreased television coverage of Paris-Roubaix Femmes -
Sorry Canyon, Mathieu van der Poel doesn't want to ride the new Endurace for Paris-Roubaix
It seems Van der Poel has decided not to use the new Canyon Endurace CFR that was designed around his Paris-Roubaix assault -
I rode the Trouée d'Arenberg two years ago, and I still can't get over how rough it is
The forest of Arenberg is the roughest piece of road in all of cycling
