The first race in 2025 in the UCI Gravel World Series took place on Saturday in Llucena del Sid (Castellon) in the Spanish Valencia region. A tough course with more than 2500m elevation over the 97km.
The race was sold out last week with 800 riders at the start, representing 33 different nationalities.
Good old Alejandro Valverde (44) still managed to beat all his younger opponents with a 12 seconds lead on the final climb to Portuguese Tiago Ferreira and Italian Matteo Fontana in third at 1m18.
The female race was won German champion Carolin Schiff. Last year’s winner Sofia Rodriguez Revert and Marta Romeu Solaz fought on the last climb for the podium spots with Rodriguez claiming second and Romeu third at 1m30.
