A new event opened up the racing for 2024 in the UCI Gravel World Series, with 21-year-old Italian gravel champion Giada Borghesi (BTC City Ljubljana) and Austrian Sebastian Schönberger (Team Felt Felbermayr) claiming the victories at Wörthersee Gravel Race.
Borghesi, who finished eighth in the European Gravel Championships last year, crossed the line in 4:28:36, just four seconds ahead of Geerike Schreurs (Specialized - SD Worx Protime), who recently made the switch from soigneur to full-time gravel racer. Unbound winner Carolin Schiff (Canyon CLLCTV) finished third in the elite women's category.
Schönberger, who was last year racing with Human Powered Health on the road and came 10th in the UCI Gravel World Championships, won the men's elite race by crossing the line in 4:00:23, 27 seconds ahead of the 2023 Traka 200 winner Paul Voß (Autsaid). Belgian rider Daan Soete (Deschacht Hens Maes CX) came third.
The race in southern Austria was held on a course put together by Johnny Hoogerland, running over 144km and delivering 1680 metres of altitude gain for the elite riders. The elite category included three loops of the circuit with lake views, each with just under half unpaved roads and with two solid gravel climbs. The sold out race with 1200 entrants across the categories.
The elite fields included a host of top riders from the gravel world and beyond, with those on the start list including Tessa Neefjes, Jade Treffeisen, Svenja Betz, Ivar Slik, Jasper Ockeloen, Nicholas Roche, Jan Bakelants, Petr Vakoc, Mattia De Marchi and Niki Terpstra.
The event was the first race of the UCI Gravel World Series races in 2024, though the October 2023 European Championships and Beechworth Gravelista round in Australia of the UCI series also act as qualifying rounds for the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium.
There are 25 qualifying races on the current 2024 schedule for the Gravel World Series, with Worthersee signalling the beginning of a concentrated block of series rounds. La Indomable in Spain, Giro Sardegna Gravel in Italy, the Swartberg 100 in South Africa, Highlands Gravel Classic in the United States and Gravel Fondo Limburg in the Netherlands all take place through April.
