The 2024 USA Biking Gravel Nationwide Championships passed off as soon as once more in Gering, Nebraska, over the weekend. Riders competed not just for the celebrated Stars-and-Stripes jersey but in addition for a share of the $40,000 prize purse and an computerized entry to the UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium this October.
The 131.1-mile course was the identical as final yr’s inaugural occasion, and within the girls’s race, so was the winner as Lauren Stephens (Cynisca Biking) once more crossed the end line solo. Within the males’s race, nevertheless, the defending champion was dethroned as former world champion rower Brennan Wertz (mosaic Cycles) took the title, whereas Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles/SRAM) completed in sixth.
A breakthrough victory for Brennan Wertz
Wertz held off a nine-rider chase group to say his largest gravel win but. Within the dash for second, John Borstelmann (Slowtwitch Goodlife Racing) completed second, and gravel newcomer Colby Simmons (Visma-Lease a Bike improvement staff) took third. Defending champion Keegan Swenson was a part of the chase group and completed in sixth place.
“Extremely honoured to have the privilege of sporting this stunning jersey for the following yr,” Wertz commented on social media.
“Really confused. Thanks from the underside of my coronary heart to everybody who believed in me and inspired me alongside the best way, particularly throughout this latest tough interval.”
In making ready for a busy finish to the season, together with SBT GRVL, the ultimate Life Time Grand Prix occasions, and the nationwide and world championships, Wertz had spent a giant block of coaching within the Swiss Alps. Nevertheless, he contracted a Covid an infection shortly thereafter and needed to sit out the August races. Thus, his run-in to the nationwide championship race had been lower than best. Nonetheless, he appeared to be in wonderful kind as he was capable of keep forward of the chase pack and cross the end line simply six seconds forward of the spring for second.
“I knew with my measurement and energy I didn’t have the legs for a long-range assault; a ten kilometer assault was out of the query in the present day. I didn’t have any snap in my legs in the present day after being sick,” he stated within the post-race interview. “I used to be actually hoping I might sneak away one to 2 kilometres from the end, so I put all my chips on the desk on that transfer on the finish and it paid off.”
The most recent race content material, interviews, options, critiques and professional shopping for guides, direct to your inbox!
Wertz had already scored an computerized entry for the UCI Gravel World Championships in April, when he gained the Highlands Gravel Traditional, a qualifying occasion that was held in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In Nebraska, Wertz did take house the stars-and-stripes jersey —which he’ll get to put on in all gravel occasions for the approaching yr— in addition to $10,000.
Together with Wertz, podium finishers Borstelmann and Simmons mechanically certified to compete towards the world’s finest on the UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium in October, with full help from USA Biking.
Males’s High 10
- Brennan Wertz (Mosaic Cycles) 5:50:372.
- John Borstelmann (Goodlife Racing/Ventum/Voler) 5:50:433
- Colby Simmons (Workforce Visma | Lease a Bike) 5:50:434
- Russell Finsterwald (Trek Driftless) 5:50:435
- Griffin EAster (OpiCure Basis Gravel Workforce p/b Canyon Bicycles) 5:50:446.
- Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles/SRAM) 5:50:447.
- Lance Haidet (Specialised/SRAM/Velocio/FatTire) 5:50:448
- Cobe Freeburn (Bear Gravel Workforce) 5:50:449
- Ian Lopez de San Roman (Aevolo) 5:50:4410
- Innokenty Zavyalov (Mazda – Orange Seal) 5:50:45
Stephens defends
Within the girls’s race, Lauren Stephens (Cynisca Biking) repeated her dominant efficiency from final yr to win her second consecutive elite girls’s title. Stephens improved her time by over 14 minutes from the 2023 race, benefiting from quick, dry circumstances.
“It was an superior day…I used to be quite a bit much less nervous this yr than final yr. I used to be calmer coming into in the present day having finished it final yr,” Stephens stated within the post-race interview. “At 500-meters I simply began soaking all of it in. It’s actually thrilling to get to put on the Stars and Stripes for an additional yr.”
The sector had been blown to bits, and each rider within the high 10 got here throughout the road by herself.
It was Lauren De Crescenzo (Issue-The Feed-Maxxis-Castelli), nonetheless recovering from a damaged collarbone, who crossed the road in second place to say silver, 1:21 behind Stephens. A minute behind her, Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless) rolled by means of the end line to say bronze.
Each one in all these girls scored an computerized qualification to compete on the UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium, with full help from USA Biking.
Like Wertz, Stephens additionally earned $10,000 for her victory. Subsequent up, Stephens will commerce her gravel bike for a street bike as she’s headed to the UCI World Highway Championships in Zurich, Switzerland, the place she’ll compete within the street race, time trial and staff relay.
Girls’s High 10:
- Lauren Stephens (Cynisca Biking) 6:31:442
- Lauren De Crescenzo (Issue / The Feed / Maxxis / Castelli / PERC) 6:33:063
- Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless) 6:34:314
- Alexis Skarda (Santa Cruz Bicycles SRAM) 6:36:005
- Cecily Decker (Scuderia Pinarello) 6:44:556
- Whitney Allison (Bike Sports activities) 6:45:097
- Caroline Wreszin (Skratch // Issue) 6:47:298
- Marisa Boaz (Mazda Orange Seal Off-Highway) 6:50:579
- Hannah Shell (Vantage Racing) 7:07:2910
- Leah Van Der Linden (Lauf | Eliel | Hunt) 7:11:18
The highest three finishers within the males’s and girls’s elite classes may even mechanically qualify to compete towards the world’s finest on the UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium in October, with full help from USA Biking.
