French rider Romain Bardet secured his first gravel cycling win, taking victory at the UCI Gravel race in Fubine. This was only his second gravel event since retiring from road racing after the Critérium du Dauphiné and finishing tenth in Gravel Grit’n Grind last week.
The fourth edition of the race moved to the picturesque town of Fubine, with a beautiful 120km course winding through the vineyards and mountains of the Monferrato region.
In the men’s elite race, Bardet attacked halfway through the course, creating a gap that he held to the finish. He crossed the line half a minute ahead of last year’s winner, Petr Vakoc. The Dutch ranking leader, Mathijs Loman, got a small gap to secure third place, finishing just over a minute behind Bardet.
The women’s race saw a similar outcome, with Erica Magnaldi making her move halfway through the event. She went on to win with an impressive 2 minutes and 45 seconds lead over Australia’s Nicole Frain. Irina Lutzelschwab of Switzerland rounded out the podium, finishing third, 3 minutes and 40 seconds back.
