Svenja Betz wins La Monsterrato Gravel World Series round in Italy

Svenja Betz (IBCT CyclingTeam) took another win at the La Monsterrato Trek UCI Gravel World Series round in Italy on Saturday, taking the win ahead of Women's WorldTour professionals Barbara Guarischi and Tiffany Cromwell.

Betz, who came second in Poland and first in Sweden, finished the 122km event in Quattordio more than three minutes ahead of her nearest rival, Movistar rider Guarischi. Canyon-SRAM's Cromwell was just a further two seconds back.

"This result actually means a lot to me but not because it's a win, but because it was pure fighting spirit," said Betz in an Instagram post. "It started super fast, on dusty gravel roads with lots of sand and stones. 

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"The first 20k were mostly flat, than 13 short but step and painful climbs started. I found some kinda good working groups, til I lost them on downhill sections. I came back, I lost them again. I was suffering the uphill sections. At some point I was by myself, just kept on going! And again: I came back."

The Italian round was the eighth of 11 in the UCI Gravel World Series, with the races actins as qualifying for the first UCI Gravel World Championships in the Veneto region of Italy on October 8-9. The Gravelista Beechworth round in Australia was also held on Sunday, with  Justine Barrow (Roxsolt Liv SRAM) winning the women's category.