Dutch riders Marianne Vos and Niki Terpstra took out the wins at the latest round of the UCI Gravel World Series round in Sweden, taking victory at the Gravel Grit 'n Grind in Halmstad which delivered the fourteenth round of sixteen across the series.
The 133km race delivered 1210 metres of vertical elevation as it ran through the woods and lakes around Halmstad, starting with the climbs early – in fact less than five kilometres into the race.
In the women's race it came down to retired mountain biker Annika Langvad (Specialized Racing XC) and Vos, who has just finished a heavy road block that has taken her through from the Giro d'Italia Donne at the start of July to the Tour de France Femmes and the Road World Championships.
The gravel, however, is where she got to taste victory with the accomplished multi-discipline rider crossing the line with a four-second advantage to Langvad. It was a shift up the Gravel World Series results sheet for Vos this year, as when she dipped in mid-July she took fourth at the Gravel One Fifty in the Netherlands though that result was delivered right between the prestigious Italian and French stage races, which would not doubt have remained her focus.
The only other rider who remained close to the lead duo was third-placed Germany's Rosa Maria Kloser (Amager Cykle Ring) while the trio of Tessa Neefjes (Liv Racing), Maaike Colje (Massi Tactic) and Jade Treffeisen (Team Embrace the World) charged in together seven minutes further back to take the next three positions.
In the men's overall Terpstra returned to gravel racing after being sidelined by an injury and jumped straight up to the top podium step. The retired road professional, who last year won a round in Millau, crossed the line with an advantage of 47 seconds to his nearest rival Paul Voss (Aut’Said).
Voss finished at the front of a chasing trio, with Jasper Ockeloen (Canyon) and Gustav Frederik Dahl (Restaurant Suri-Carl Ras) taking third and fourth spot.
The Swedish round of the Gravel World Series is the third last stop before the UCI Gravel World Championships in October, therefore is also the third last opportunity to qualify for the rainbow jersey race. The next rounds are Houffa Gravel in Belgium on August 26 and then La Monsterrato in Italy on September 2.
