Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing) and Toby Perry (Classified X Rose) captured their first victories of the season on a severely muddy course at the The Hills set in the Veneto region of Italy, a new event for Gravel Earth Series.
The Hills was billed as the sunny race across the Prosecco hills, famous for a multitude of vineyards across 180km, 70% of that on gravel and 2,200 metres of elevation gain. However, three days of rain turned the white, dusty dirt roads into tracks of murky, merciless mud, with the descents more challenging than the climbs.
There were separate starts for elite men and elite women, the women departing 12 minutes after the men, with several PAS Racing riders at the front early. Aguirre worked hard to stay at the front for what she called a "7.5-hour cyclocross race", and won her first event of the season.
In her gravel debut, Debora Piana, a three-time endurance mountain bike champion from Italy, finished second, 5:50 behind Aguirre. Geerke Scheurs finished third, 10:42 back.
"It was absolutely crazy. I don't even have words to describe the carnage that was the course," USA's Aguirre told organisers at the finish.
"My biggest goal this year is to control the ups and the downs [on the course]. You feel good, then you feel bad, then you crash, then my shifter stops working and I think it's over. You go to all these places, and it's [so much] learning. The mud, it's terrible, and I think the more you panic the worse it gets. So it was crazy. It was absolute chaos."
For Schreurs, who came into The Hills with a victory at Turnhout Gravel, part of the UCI Gravel World Series, she rode in second place for much of the race, until a slippery steep section of cement through one of the vineyards saw her come off the bike and she lost position when she had to walk the steepest section. She called it "a full-body mud treatment [plus] mud snacks for free".
Briton Perry, who won two races last year on gravel after transitioning from the road, earned his first victory of this season. He distanced runner-up Italian Deigo Rosa by 2:37, while Jasper Ockeloen took third, 6:33 back.
He said at the finish his plan was to be aggressive, and stay at the front of the race, where he was more likely to stay out of trouble in the treacherous conditions.
“The course and the conditions were so tough, it was all about racing from the front and being aggressive. There was nowhere to recover—the descents were so muddy it took everything just to keep the bike upright,” Toby said in a race recap from his sponsor Rose Bikes.
“I’m a tad tired but relieved it’s over. Honestly, it was horrible—a day that makes you question why you race bikes. But in the end, winning... that feeling, that’s the one thing you chase, right? I’m so happy I could make it happen again!”
The Hills was the fourth stop on the Global Earth Series. Like Santa Vall, which was held in early February, The Hills offered bonus scoring with 10% more points than the base events. Next in the series is a three-day race in Zamora, Spain, Tierra de Campos, and is also at 10%+ scoring event.
