Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) lined up as defending champion at the second edition of FNLD GRVL and once again flew solo to victory in the 177km women's race, shaking a determined attempt by Klara Sofie Skovgård Hansen (PAS Racing) to stay firm on her wheel on the final climb.
The last ascent before the Lahti finish line was also a pivotal point for the men's race, with the now-retired WorldTour sprint powerhouse André Greipel dropped from the leading group. Multi-discipline Estonian rider Markus Pajur (EC Saint-Etienne Loire) then triumphed in the tight charge to the line among the group of seven, with Unbound Gravel podium finisher Tobias Kongstad (PAS Racing) second and Frederik Rassmann third.
Next in the sprint at the Finnish race was Slim Kiskonen, then Greg Van Avermaet, Asbjørn Hellemose and Petr Vakoč, while around a minute later dropped riders Antti-Jussi Juntunen and Greipel came over the line.
In the women's race, which played out a course that wound past freshwater lakes and through dense forests, Cromwell carved out a hard-earned gap of 40 seconds to her nearest rival, Skovgård Hansen, who was followed over the line by her PAS Racing teammate Mie Pedersen a little over three minutes later.
"I had to dig deep all the way to the finish as Klara never gave up the fight for the win," said Cromwell in an Instagram post. "I got a gap on the first part of the climb, but she bridged back to me as it flattened off. Then I managed to get a gap again on the last part of the steepest climb and went all in.
"Still hot on my heels she chased hard, but fortunately I had just enough still in the legs to hold on to the finish and take the victory. It was a fun battle and chapeau to Klara for never giving up."
The event with a 20,000 Euro prize purse is run through a partnership between SBT GRVL co-founder and owner Amy Charity, F1 driver Valtteri Bottas and Women's WorldTour rider Cromwell. Around 700 riders took part in the second edition across the three distances.
