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Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialised Off-road) conquered harsh climate situations and made it two-for-two at Valley of Tears gravel race in Turkey, Texas on Saturday. Within the elite males’s race, Daxton Mock (Bear Nationwide Staff) took the victory from a three-rider lead group on a mud-caked course shortened to 47 miles (75.6km).
In only a second version, Valley of Tears made impressions past the wealthy prize purse of $26,0000 shared by the 2 elite fields. Elite women and men had their very own begins however shared equally within the formidable climate situations that turned the sandy washes and punchy climbs of the Tampico Tundra into sticky, claret-coloured clay.
The swing in climate situations was drastic for 2 days of racing on the gravel occasion, with heat spring temperatures of 76°F readily available for the inaugural filth criterium on Friday. A day later, the thermometer plummeted 40 levels, winds gusted to over 30 mph and rain transitioned from sleet to snow because the temperatures hovered across the freezing mark.
Organisers made the decision to shorten the lengthy 97-mile course for security causes, first taking off 30 miles on a northern part after which one other 20 miles eradicated due to thick mud for a closing distance of 47 miles for the west Texas gravel stampede.
Villafañe dominated the distinctly totally different programs, and climate situations, first profitable the inaugural Valley of Tears filth criterium on Friday when she took flight on the opening lap and dusted the sector throughout the 20-lap race for the victory. Utilizing an analogous scheme on Saturday, the Argentina native broke away early and rode solo the remainder of the best way for a second consecutive win on the gravel endurance contest.
Coming off a victory on dusty singletrack at Belgian Waffle Trip Arizona, Villafañe confirmed her versatility within the moist situations, finishing the shortened route in 2:39:35. Emily Newsom (PAS Racing) was 4:55 again in second and one other six minutes later was Crystal Anthony in third.
“I made a solo transfer 6 miles in after the now notorious gravel limestone pit and it caught till the top. Questioned my alternative a bit within the huge headwind sections however we lastly had a race the place it was separate begin and no drafting between fields which was very sick,” Villafañe posted to her social media.
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Mock deliberate to make BWR Arizona his first gravel race of the season, however pulled out attributable to sickness. The 24-year-old from Wisconsin had loads in reserves as soon as throughout the end line, because the trio of leaders had not acquired communications that one other 20 miles had been reduce from the route, so the preliminary move underneath the end banner didn’t sign a second loop however the finish of the race.
French rider Hugo Drechou (Numéro 31 par Café du Cycliste) completed second and USA’s Michael Garrison (MGR p/b NICH SpeedClub)
“Obtained in a superb break, and as I used to be rolling into city, I suppose I received a bit excited by means of the end line and thought, ‘Why not dash to the road, simply in case?’ Seems it labored once they shortened the unique course attributable to climate,” Mock defined on Instagram.
“Would’ve liked to battle it out extra with the fellows, however a win’s a win and I’m loving it!”
It has been a busy early gravel season for Drechou, who received La Bescanonina Gravel in Spain in early February and was fourth at BWR Arizona final week. Garrison, who received HomeGrown Gravel in an uphill dash in mid February, stated the trio didn’t know the course had been shortened a second time, so accepted his third-place end as “frustating” however “pleased with the shape”.
Final 12 months’s males’s champion Keegan Swenson was one spot in need of getting a share of the prize purse on Saturday, ending eleventh. He got here away with a small examine on Friday, nevertheless, with a victory within the criterium as a comfort prize.
Junior Gravel Nationwide Collection opener
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Valley of Tears served because the opening spherical of USA Biking’s Junior Gravel Nationwide Collection, a bunch of 5 current races throughout the US with scoring obtainable in 4 classes: 15-16 Males, 15-16 Girls, 17-18 Males, and 17-18 Girls.
Carter Lembke received the boys’s 17-18 junior division in 2:03:38, a half-second higher than Alex Snider, who received the boys’s 15-16 division.
Sara Shannon took the victory for the ladies’s 17-18 junior division in 2:30:52, whereas Kate Elwell was underneath a minute again and the highest finisher within the ladies’s 15-16 junior division.
Full outcomes from Valley of Tears are obtainable on-line.
Standings within the Junior Gravel Nationwide Collection rank prime riders with finest total rating from three of their finest finishes, with a minimal of three occasions to be accomplished. Prime-ranked riders from the sequence might be invited to a USA Biking Junior Expertise Identification Camp in October 2025.
Life Time Sea Otter Basic Gravel is the following occasion, held April 11 in Monterey, California. The opposite three contests on the calendar embrace Life Time Unbound Gravel 50 on Could 31, SBT GRVL p/b Wahoo on June 29 and USA Biking Gravel Nationwide Championships on September 20. The nationwide championships might be held in La Crescent, Minnesota for the primary time.
Elite prime 10s
| Place | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daxton Mock | 02:17:01 |
| 2 | Hugo Drechou | +00:01 |
| 3 | Michael Garrison | +00:02 |
| 4 | Russell Finsterwald | +02:17 |
| 5 | Adam Roberge | +02:19 |
| 6 | Torbjørn Andre Røed | +02:19 |
| 7 | Chase Wark | +02:19 |
| 8 | Tobin Ortenblad | +03:11 |
| 9 | John Borstelmann | +03:27 |
| 10 | Dylan Johnson | +03:38 |
| Place | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sofia Gomez Villafañe | 02:39:35 |
| 2 | Emily Newsom | +04:50 |
| 3 | Crystal Anthony | +10:27 |
| 4 | Cecily Decker | +11:50 |
| 5 | Axelle Dubau-Prevot | +15:13 |
| 6 | Lauren Stephens | +19:42 |
| 7 | Ellory Clason | +23:24 |
| 8 | Erin Reedy | +30:29 |
| 9 | Maire Noonan | +30:53 |
| 10 | Terry Moore | +35:03 |