The Growler at Levi's GranFondo: Marcis Shelton…

The Growler at Levi's GranFondo: Marcis Shelton sprints to men's race victory while Lauren Stephens secures solo win in women's race

Marcis Shelton and Lauren Stephens won pro races in Skipstone's Growler Road Race at Levi's GranFondo on Saturday in Windsor, California.

Shelton out-powered a small group at the line, beating runner-up Brandon Johnston with a time of 5:58:09, both finishing with the same time in the elite men's category. An additional second later, a group of three crossed the line, with third place going to Kent Ross.

"I wanted it to stay together, that end is long with a headwind, we rolled really well in that bigger group, and I figured why not keep it together," said Shelton, who finished second last year. "Maybe I had thoughts of trying to whittle it down further, but I'm confident in my sprint, and it paid off."

In the elite women's category, Stephens crossed the line solo for a second year in a row with a winning time of 7:20:05, beating runner-up Sofia Gomez Villafañe and third-placed Kate Courtney, both with a time of 7:21:54.

"I wasn't sure if it was going to work for two years in a row," Stephens said, who went solo from 50km out. "I went in the same place as last year, but this year I had some teammates to help me. My teammate, Kylee, was keeping the pace high in the lower part of the Geyser and set me up to be able to hit it on the steep part.

"The motivation for that last 50km, even with 20km to go, and I heard the time gap, I had to do this for Kylee, who sacrificed her race to help me. Having teammates is what I love; it gives me that motivation I need."

The third edition of The Growler at Levi's GranFondo returned to the 138-mile course through Sonoma County in northern California, famous for rough pavement and relentless climbing that included more than 14,000 feet (4,267 metres) of elevation gain.

A field of leading road and off-road athletes battled for the richest one-day road race in professional cycling, $156,000 split evenly among the top 10 finishers in men's and women's divisions.

Last year, Stephens won solo, with Shafi and Gomez Villafañe on the elite women's podium. In the men's race, Keegan Swenson was best in a four-rider sprint, Conn McDunphy of Ireland going second, Shelton of the US third and South African Matt Beers fourth. Bradyn Lange, who won Sea Otter Classic Gravel last week, was fifth.

More to follow...