Simen Nordahl Svendsen (PAS Racing) won the pro men’s division while Lauren Stephens (Cynisca Cycling) defended the women’s title at Garmin Gravel Worlds presented by Lauf.
Svendsen, a two-time winner of The Rift in Iceland, came into the Nebraska race having finished eighth at SBT GRVL. The Norwegian took top honours with a finish time of 6:48:46, winning a two-rider sprint ahead of US racer Innokenty Zavyalov. Canadian Adam Roberge, a former Gravel Worlds champion, finished third less than a minute back. Peter Stetina soloed across the line in fourth, with Ethan Overson in fifth.
SBT GRVL winner Stephens broke free from a three-rider breakaway in the final mile and posted a time of 7:57:46, leaving Briton Karolina Migon in second place, 22 seconds back, and her PAS Racing teammate Emily Newsom rolling across the line in third. Crystal Anthony held on for fourth and Emma Grant finished fifth.
For the first time in the 15 years of the Lincoln, Nebraska event, the pro women had a dedicated start, taking the 150-mile course 10 minutes after the pro men and 25 minutes ahead.
"I enjoyed the women's only start. You know, we got our own race, and it was definitely different than what I'm used to, but it was an exciting day," Stephens said at the finish. "We didn't get caught by one guy. So that's pretty cool."
To emphasize the women’s only race, organisers added $10,000 to the prize purse, providing $500 for each woman in the top 20 to arrive at the second race checkpoint ahead of riders in the general field. The total prize purse as $30,000 for pro men and women, but only the women shared in the extra $10,000.
Another first for the event was a successful live stream, provided on YouTube with support from Goodlife Brands for the entirety of the 150-mile race. Action was captured from cameras mounted on jeeps, with separate shots from the men’s lead group and the women’s peloton. Commentary was provided for both categories by Dede Griesbauer, Matt Lieto and the cast of the Groadio podcast, Bill Schieken and Amanda Nauman.
Action across Nebraska
Through the water oasis at mile 86.5, Chase Wark led a trio that included Ethan Overson and Daxton Mock at the front of the race. All of them stopped briefly to restock for hydration and resumed the pacemaking on a long, straight, dusty road passing endless rows of cornstalks.
A chasing group behind began to split on the rollercoaster terrain, some riders beginning to suffer in the heat, rising above 86°F.
On another long, flat section heading to the last rest stop at mile 119, eight riders formed the front group. Then Innokenty Zavyalov and Svendsen surged ahead, with Mock and Roberge chasing together, and Stetina and Wark forming a duo. All six were separated by less than a minute. Trevor August and Overson fell off the pace.
A change at the front saw Zavyalov, Svendsen and Roberge form a trio and they gained a significant gap. Zavyalov attacked with under 3 miles to race and Roberge looked to struggle but powered back on the relentless rollers. Svedsen set the pace, and his companions were not too interested in pulling through.
With 1.5 miles to go, Zavyalov attacked again and only Svendsen could reply, Roberge fading in the dust. With one right-hand corner to finish, Svendsen came around Zavyalov in the final dirt chicanes to take the victory.
“Inno [Zavyalov} was super strong all day. We were chasing together for most of the day, so I knew that when he went, I really want to follow. I thought that would be perhaps a decisive move, and it turned out to be,” Svendsen said about the winning move at the end.
In the women’s race, 14 of the pro women were packed tightly on the opening northern section of the course. Then Migon and Stephens broke away well after the CX section, with two pro men tagging on the back and several other pro women still grouped together attempting to bridge across.
“I definitely didn't want to go quite that early in the race, but we were going up this little hill, and the group slowed up quite a bit. I decided to give it a go and Carolina was able to follow me, and I just drilled it for a while, and then we started working together," Stephens said at the finish.
"And then Emily Newsom came across to us, which was awesome, because I really don't want to be two riders for over half the race."
At the water oasis at mile 85, the Stephens-Newsom-Migon trio began to pull away, the gap growing to over four minutes. A casualty from the chasing group was Kyleigh Spearing, who had gone through multiple CO2s to stop a leak, but succumbed to the mechanical and dropped away.
At the final aid station, the lead trio stopped and took on more fluids and some ice. Stephens was the first one to remount and continue after about 30 seconds and seemed to accelerate slowly to allow the PAS teammates to join.
Behind, a group of five worked together and were yet to make the highway crossing. When chasers arrived at aid station 12 minutes later, Isabel King and Emma Grant stopped, while Anthony, who was third in Nebraska last year, Justine Barrow and Marisa Boaz rolled through.
The temperatures continued to rise for the elite women, with no clouds to break the heat, the thermometer pushing 90°F. With less than 10 miles to go, there was a 10-minute gap for trio out front and behind Anthony made a move from the four chasers.
On a small uphill rise, the PAS Racing teammates took turns attacking Stephens, but the US gravel champion reacted each time to stay on their back wheels. About a mile on, Stephens launched her own attack from behind Migon and sailed away. She kept looking behind her in the final mile and could see them clawing their way back, but she held the gap for the win.
"We were a group of three, and we worked together super well all through the rest of the race, until about 10k to go. The two of them started one-two'ing me, and luckily, I was able to get away from them," Stephens added.
"You know, all through the race, I was like I can win this sprint. I can win this sprint. Be patient, be patient. But I was pretty happy when I was able to come in solo," Stephens said at the finish."
