The Women Elite race in the 2025 Bolero UCI Gravel World Championships was locked for a long time with a big group up to 60-70 riders staying together in the first half.
An attack of Romy Kasper (GER) together with Femke Gerritse (NED) and Maud Rijnbeek (NED) opened the race halfway. The two topfavorites Marianne Vos (NED) and Lorena Wiebes (NED) could close the gap and the five remained in the lead for the majority of the race.
But in the finish loop towards Maastricht, a large group came back and the Bronsdalweg couldn’t split up the favorites. In the downhill after the climb, it was Shirin van Anrooij who managed to get away and it looked like she was going to grab gold, but a final attack in the group behind brought back four riders and it was finally Lorena Wiebes sprinting to gold with defending world champion Marianne Vos taking silver and Italian Silvia Persico winning bronze.
Yara Kastelijn finished fourth and the unfortunate Shirin van Anrooij who was passed in the sprint finishes fifth.
A first gold for Lorena Wiebes after bronze last year and the European title in 2023.
