It was a challenging season opener for the 2026 Gravel Earth Series as rain before the first day of racing at the two-stage Santa Vall by The Traka turned it into a muddy affair.
Specialized Off-road team riders Sofía Gómez Villafañe and Mads Würtz Schmidt both charged to victory in the slippery conditions on the stage and set themselves up to take the overall wins as well.
It was two days of solo victories for Villafañe in the Pro Women category as the three-time Life Time Grand Prix winner started her 2026 season. She claimed the first 120km muddy stage with a gap of nearly a minute to second-placed Rosa Klöser (Canyon x SRAM x MAAP), while it was another 29 seconds back to third-placed Sophie Wright (Ribble Outliers).
"Heavy rain last night made for a slick race course," said Villafañe in an Instagram post after the stage with 1,600m of elevation gain. "I kept things upright and had a long solo mission from the main climb to that finish line."
On day one of the men's race, it was far from a straightforward win for European gravel champion Würtz Schmidt.
"I think it was the most challenging gravel race I’ve done so far," he said in an Instagram post. "I didn’t make the right tyre choice for the mud, and boy, I was in trouble."
"From being with the front of the race to suddenly find myself alone with 1m 30sec to the front, there was only one thing to do. Put the head down and start working."
Which is exactly what he did, fighting his way back to the front group, which included Specialized Off-road teammate Matt Beers and then putting in an "all-out" 3km attack at the end to claim the victory.
Wurtz Schmidt came across the line nine seconds ahead of Wout Alleman (Buff-BH Team) with third-placed Romain Bardet (Factor Racing) 14 seconds back, while Beers was fourth.
On the 85km stage 2 with 1,100m of elevation gain, Villafañe made her dominance clear, finishing solo again on Sunday. This time, she was 56 seconds ahead of the nearest pursuer, Wright, while Frain took the third step of the podium just a second further back.
It was a tight finish in stage 2 of the men's race, with the top 20 riders crossing the line within ten seconds of winner Tim Wollenberg (BIXS Race Team). In the drying conditions, he was one second ahead of Leon Kaiser (Modus Offroad) and it was another second to third-placed Jan Stöckli (Tudor Pro Cycling).
It was then Michael Garrison (Speedstudio p/b Basso) in fourth and Würtz Schmidt fifth, both finishing with the same time as Stöckli, and that was more than enough to make sure the European champion secured overall victory.
Würtz Schmidt was 13 seconds ahead of Bardet and 27 seconds ahead of Beers on the final GC tally. Villafañe was 2:24 ahead of Wright on the overall, while Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing) in third was 4:49 back.
The Gravel Earth Series is made up of eleven events across Europe, Africa and the United States. The calendar includes The Traka in May, but before then, The Hills will run on March 28 in Italy and the Gravel Desert in Spain on April 11.
Position |
Rider |
Time |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Sofía Gómez Villafañe |
07:03:00 |
2 |
Sophie Wright |
+2:24 |
3 |
Morgan Aguirre |
+4:49 |
4 |
Nicole Frain |
+7:03 |
5 |
Karolina Migoń |
+7:07 |
Position |
Rider |
Time |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Mads Wurtz Schmidt |
05:57:01 |
2 |
Romain Bardet |
+13 |
3 |
Matthew Beers |
+27 |
4 |
Wout Alleman |
+1:25 |
5 |
Leon Kaiser |
+3:09 |
