Hans Becking (Buff Megamo MTB) and Carolin Schiff (Canyon CLLCTV) claimed victories in Gravel Adventure, a 111km round of the UCI Gravel World Series in Poland.
Becking, the winner of the Migration and Safari Gravel Race, took the men's elite win with in a two-up sprint against Mauro Verwilt (Tarteletto Isorex). Seppe Rombouts (PAS Racing) crossed the line to take third 37 seconds later.
Schiff added another victory to her impressive gravel palmares – which includes a 2023 Unbound Gravel win – by taking off solo on the final 70km and crossing the line more than six minutes ahead of her nearest rival, Jade Treffeisen (Canyon CLLCTV). This year's Unbound Gravel 200 winner Rosa Klöser (Rose-MAAP) was third at over 10 minutes back.
"A beautiful area and a hard race course with some fast and technical downhills and longer uphills. I made it a hard race from the beginning and pushed it up, and downhill. Worked out well and after 70 km I was alone in front and was able to take the win," Schiff posted to her Instagram feed.
"So good to share the podium with Jade Treffeisen, who had a strong race and finished second."
The event started and finished in Jakuszyce, a new venue in the third edition, delivering 74% unpaved roads on the course, with the largest part of the paved section on the key 7.7km climb with a 5.7% average gradient at around 70km into the day's ride.
The Gravel World Series rounds, which are spread across the globe, act as qualifying events for the UCI Gravel World Championships which in 2024 will be held in Belgium on October 5-6. The top 25% from each category qualify.