Rosa Klöser (Canyon Factory Racing) and Wout Alleman (Buff Megamo) won elite races at Ranxo Gravel in Spain on Sunday, the final round for the Gravel Earth Series (GES). For Klöser, there was a double reward at the finish in Ponts, the German securing the overall series title for elite women after posting her fourth win.
Belgian rider Alleman outsprinted Magnus Bak Klaris (PAS Racing) at the line to win on his first appearance in a series event. Klaris earned enough points to be crowned elite men’s champion of the GES.
GES offered a range of scoring opportunities across 23 global events between February and September this season, Ranxo Gravel one of five races, with 20% bonus scoring for top finishers. The stakes were high for the 160km contest, offering 1,930 metres of climbing with rocky sections and technical trails in fast and dry conditions, with top contenders making the trip to Spain for the finale.
The women stared first at 7:45 a.m. local time, followed by the men 55 minutes later. Klöser, Karolina Migoń, Morgan Aguirre and Geerike Schreurs all had chances to secure top series positions for elite women, while the men’s title was a battle between Klaris and Piotr Havik, and Tobias Mørch Kongstad and Peter Stetina had very outside chances in the scoring possibilities.
Across the first climbs of the elite women’s field, Klöser was joined by US duo Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing) and Sarah Sturm (Specialized-Sram), but soon broke away on a solo effort to win in 5:29:41.
Aguirre finished second, 4:18 back, to secure third overall in the series, while Sturm completed the day’s podium in third, another 2:30 back, and placed fifth in the series standings. Schreurs finished fifth at Ranxo and fourth in the series.
Klöser finished on the podium of all six of the GES events in which she took part, with victories at The Rift, CORE4, Gravel Worlds and then Ranxo Gravel. Karolina Migoń, who recovered from a crash to finish fourth in Ponts, finished second overall, having won The Traka 360 and Lost & Found during her seven races.
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