German Carolin Schiff sprinted from a four-rider group to win the women’s division at Gravel Locos 150, while Canadian Adam Roberge took a solo victory on the men’s side.
Schiff, who won the 200km The Traka in late April, edged women’s defending champion Marisa Boaz at the line, with Justin Barrow’s stretch leaving her in third. Katie Kantzes faded at the end for fourth, just five seconds behind the podium trio, who finished in the overall top 30.
The four women stay together most of the day, with the final separation in the sprint where the lunge for the line came after 7 hours, 54 minutes, 7 seconds. Schiff was surprised to take the win but counted it as good form going into Unbound Gravel next week.
“What??? 252k‘ of gravel racing with an average speed of 32.3 km/h and 2,000 climbing meters made me suffer a bit. Good preparations towards Unbound Gravel on June 3rd,” Schiff wrote on social media.
In the men’s field, the lead group contained around 25 riders with 100 miles to go. It was not until the final five miles that a crash disrupted proceedings, and Roberge broke away for a solo win in 7:12:11. Paul Voss led a group of 10 riders across the line for second place. Ivar Slik outsprinted Alex Howes for the final spot on the podium.
Roberge had mixed emotions about his victory, calling it “especially great” since the Hico race is where he began his gravel career in 2021 when he finished third behind winner Ten Dam.
“The convergence of top-tier Gravel racers from around the world, coupled with the impeccable GRAVEL quality and length of the gravel course, created a race characterized by relentless fluctuations in pace—alternating between moments of deceleration and lightning-fast…
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