Great Britain's Maddy Nutt and Switzerland's Simon Pellaud won the UCI Gravel World Series Brasil, both crossing the line solo in the hot day of racing which introduced the top tier circuit to Latin America for the first time.
Nutt, who earlier in the month secured second at Sahara Gravel, crossed the line after 4 hours, 42 minutes and 50 seconds to claim the women's race on a day where temperatures crept over 35°C. Around 13 minutes later Brazil's road champion Tamires Radatz claimed second while in third it was Luiza Euzébio de Souza.
"It was unbelievably hot—felt like 50°C,” Nutt said in a media release put out by race organisers. “I didn’t know the course at all. By the end, I had cramps in my legs.
“In the first 28km, I wasn’t even trying to attack, but I found myself leading at the top of a climb and just kept my own pace. I’m so happy to have won.”
The 111km course in Camboriu, Santa Catarina which took the global race series to a sixth continent delivered 90% gravel and 1,600m of elevation gain, with the largest 5km climb coming at the 75km mark.
In the men's race Pellaud, who just a week ago swept up the overall victory at the eight stage Transcordilleras in Colombia, came across the line in 3 hours, 44 minutes and 43 seconds. Argentina's Facundo Perez Costa (Trek Argentina) was nearly seven minutes back in second place while retired road professional Daniel Oss (Specialized) was third.
"It was a tough route, and the heat was intense," said Pellaud. "My legs weren’t at their best after racing in Colombia last week. The pace was high and only kept increasing. I even had to stop at the feed zone to grab water and cool off."
Racing in the UCI Gravel World Series, which acts a qualifier for the UCI Gravel World Championships, will continue with a much cooler Turnhout Gravel in Belgium on March 23.
