Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) and Daan Soete (Belgium) are the winners of the second Gravel World Championship qualifying race at 3RIDES in Aachen. While the former cyclo-cross world champion pulled away from her female rivals on the second of three laps of the 123 kilometers in Aachen, Soete surprised her male rivals as an outsider in the final sprint. The best German rider was Rosa Klöser (Team MAAP x Rose Global Athlete), who beat top star Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) among others in a world-class field. Belgian Soete was proud to have beaten his compatriot and hero of the Belgians, Greg van Avermaet: "I went all out for the sprint. I come from a cyclocross background and went full gas on the last corner, that was my advantage in the finish." In the final sprint, German Frederik Raßmann (Rose Racing Circle) took second place, with Dries van Gestel (Belgium) finishing third. The gravel race was the sporting highlight of the third edition of the 3RIDES. More than 5,000 participants took part in the various races and rides from the CHIO grounds, most of them from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. In total, there were participants from 63 nations in Aachen.
"The women didn't dawdle"
Superstar Greg van Avermaet, 2016 Olympic champion, narrowly missed out on the podium. "Gravel is not easy, you always have to push. It was like an elimination race. I was happy that I was so close to victory - but I'm not the best at cornering." Lucinda Brand took part in her first gravel race in Aachen. "My tactic was to stay in front. The end of the lap was the most technically demanding, that's where I had my advantages," says Brand. Later in the race, Brand still had problems with the chain, but found a male rider with whom she secured her lead. "The women didn't dawdle here, they really set the pace," said the surprise runner-up Rosa Klöser. "The course was cool and had a classic race feel to it."
Dutch winners at the first German UCI Gran Fondo
Jordy Vermeulen (Netherlands) is the first winner of a UCI Gran Fondo in Germany. On the 120-kilometer route from Aachen to Lake Rursee and back, the 22-year-old Dutchman from Team Wilvo Group-TWC De Kempen pulled away in the middle of the race. Around 2,000 riders had registered for the very demanding, fully booked competition and set off on Sunday from 7 a.m. from the Aachen CHIO grounds through the old town to the south-east into the Eifel. "It was my first Gran Fondo, my teammates talked me into it - that's why I didn't expect the success," said Vermeulen, who set off with around 50 kilometers to go. Moritz Beinlich from the German Team Strassacker tried to follow the leader alone over the 30 kilometers. "In the end, I was surprised how close the chasers came again. Three kilometers before the finish, I turned around and was surprised at how close they were. Then I gave it my all again and rolled into the finish relaxed." Winner Vermeulen needed 2:51:02 hours to complete the course (42.09 km/h). The fastest woman was Arianna Pruisscher from the Netherlands in 3:09:29 hours (37.99 km/h).
Leon van Bon
