Brennan Wertz (Mosaic Cycles) won the elite men’s title at the US Gravel National Championships on Sunday, riding solo across the line in Gering, Nebraska with a pack of nine chasers on his heels.
Wertz finished the 131.5-mile course in 5:50:37, which was six seconds ahead of the charge behind, led by John Borstelmann (Slowtwitch Goodlife Racing) in second place and gravel newcomer Colby Simmons (Visma-Lease a Bike) in third. Defending champion Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) finished sixth.
Wertz had already earned qualification to the UCI Gravel World Championships with a victory at this year’s Highlands Gravel Classic in Arkansas, but will now compete on October 6 in Belgium at the Worlds in the stars-and-stripes jersey. Last year he finished third place at the inaugural US Gravel Nationals.
“It’s so special to get to race with all the US. guys. A lot of us have been racing together for a handful of years now, so it feels a little bit like a family reunion,” Wertz said. “It’s cool to see that the scene is being recognized by USA Cycling and has its own National Championship.”
Along with Wertz, the riders in the top five also earned automatic qualifications to the Gravel World Championships - Borstelmann, Simmons, Russell Finsterwald (Trek Driftless) and Griffin Easter (OpiCure Foundation Gravel Team p/b Canyon).
The top seven finishers shared in half of the $40,000 prize purse on offer for elite athletes, Wertz earning $10,000 for his victory.
Both the elite men's and women's races were held on the same course as 2023, with 5,600 feet of elevation gain across western Nebraska farmland that featured 90% gravel roads. Dry conditions made for fast times, with Wertz improving his time by a little more than 10 minutes from last year, and claiming the first national title in his cycling career.
A group of six riders led the men’s race after the first checkpoint in the opening 40 miles - Simmons, Easter, Dylan Johnson (Felt UN1TD), Michael Garrison (MGR p/b NICH SpeedClub), Tobin Ortenblad (Santa Cruz SRAM htSQD) and Matthew Koenig (Team Mike's Bikes powered by Equator Coffees).
At the 100-mile mark just passing through the third and final aid station, Innokenty Zavyalov (Mazda-Orange Seal) held a one-minute lead over a chase group of 12 riders. With under 7 miles to race and Zavyalov absorbed back into the front pack, Swenson attacked off the front at Cemetary Road, the pace dropping a few riders before a reduced bunch of nine rejoined the defending champion. It was in the final mile that Wertz launched his attack.
“I knew with my size and power I didn’t have the legs for a long-range attack... a 10-kilometer attack was out of the question today. I didn’t have any snap in my legs today after being sick. I was really hoping I could sneak away one to two kilometers from the finish, so I put all my chips on the table on that move at the end and it paid off,” Wertz, who stands out with his 6-foot, 5-inch frame, said in a USA Cycling press release.
“I went with a superfast setup, super slick tires, big road gears and I knew that the finish this year really suited me well. For me the goal was to just make it to that last two kilometers and then see what I could do from there. It was a big gamble, I really put all my chips on the table and went all on in that strategy.”
