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Kate Courtney overcame a late flat to efficiently defend the ladies’s title at Low Hole gravel race in Ukiah, California, whereas Christopher Blevins (Specialised) held off a cost by final yr’s winner Peter Stetina (GRVL PRVTRS) for the boys’s victory.
It rained for days in northern California resulting in the opening spherical of the Grasshopper Journey Collection, now in its twenty seventh yr. Organisers confirmed that the soil wouldn’t be “too gooey”, with all of the off-road challenges packed between miles 22 and 46 on the 48-mile route. This yr featured a brand new begin venue hosted by the Metropolis of Ukiah, the riders have been led out by a police escort earlier than turning onto the 48-mile mixed-terrain course that included roughly 6,400 ft of climbing.
The primary climb got here quick after the primary 3.5 miles from Ukiah, with pavement on the primary half of the occasion and one-third of the full elevation acquire on the opening 9 miles. As soon as on the first hydration and diet cease at mile 22, the gravel and extra climbing took over at Low Hole Street. As soon as previous the second feed space at mile 31, the dust turned to thick clay on Miller Ridge, grabbing tyres and parts.
Even with a puncture to her entrance tyre, Courtney coasted on the ultimate one mile of tarmac into Ukiah for back-to-back wins. Flavia Oliveira Parks secured second place by outsprinting Katerina Nash to finish the rostrum, the pair ending greater than seven minutes behind Courtney.
“I managed to make it inside one mile of the end with out flatting and coasted throughout the road,” she stated in regards to the non-sprint end with fun after the race on the Grasshopper Instagram video. “I particularly like to combine it up with the boys slightly bit. We all the time have good, respectful battles on the market.”
Her time of two:52:02 was three minutes slower than final yr, however quick sufficient to place her within the general prime 25 of all execs.
“It was a blast. These races are all the time such an effective way to begin the season. We all the time say it’s like coaching, it’s January, however you understand, it’s a motorbike race. There’s a begin line, there’s a end line and we work actually arduous all winter, so it’s enjoyable to get on the market and really feel good on the bike, take a look at the legs and get the stoke degree to the utmost for the season,” Courtney stated on the end, with sunshine poking by the clouds.
Courtney stated she ran 40mm as her tyre selection on Saturday, because the rain that drenched the world from days earlier than held off and he or she was in a position to go sooner on the pavement part along with her setup.
Professional males’s race
Blevins additionally stated his collection of 42mm tyres gave him the grip he wanted, and he didn’t forfeit pace on the finish, his profitable time of two:28:40 six minutes slower than his runner-up time final yr and one other two minutes slower than Stetina’s 2:20:36.
“It was a terrific battle. The mud helped me. Particularly in situations like this, it’s changing into increasingly more about tools selections. I haven’t achieved an excessive amount of gravel racing, nevertheless it’s enjoyable when it’s technical like this. The extra technical, the higher. The primary climb is as arduous as you’ll be able to go,” stated the previous brief monitor mountain bike world champion and final yr’s winner of Cape Epic with Matthew Beers.
The important thing to his journey on Saturday he attributed to his mountain bike background, “I feel I get gaps on the descents and use that to my benefit”.
The lads’s race noticed a collection of three riders after the primary paved summit, Blevins and Stetina joined by former WorldTour professional Sean Bennett, who was dispatched earlier than the large climb on Miller Ridge with 15 miles to go and he held on for third place.
“It’s such a vicious begin to the yr. You begin with a full-on threshold, a 20-minute take a look at up a paved street climb. Everybody units their PRs right here, it appears,” Stetina recounted. “Chris was on a brand new degree this yr. I couldn’t shake him on the climbs, so we have been actually evenly matched.
“Chris was actual cagey. He made a transfer the place he attacked me earlier than the muckiest downhill and used that mountain bike experience to bounce away from me. So I needed to be on the defensive on climbing and use a variety of my effort to get again to him on the ultimate huge dust climb. I went all in and threw the kitchen sink at him on the ultimate climb and I couldn’t shake him. Accelerations, arduous tempos, he simply held it.”
The duo submitted Miller Ridge along with a last logging street tipping the scales to the mountain biker. Stetina stated he then closed down a small hole to Blevins in a “purgatory pursuit”, the place he might see Blevins simply forward for the final handful of miles, simply 10 seconds separating the pair.
“Dang, he held me off. It was a pleasure. I feel we went sooner than even final yr. The most important factor for Low Hole for lots of us, it’s the rekindling of everybody coming collectively after winter. Additionally it’s a take a look at to see who did their homework. I might have cherished to get him this yr, however the indicators are good that we’ve achieved our homework.”
The lads’s race featured the return of final yr’s podium, winner Stetina, second-placed Blevins and third-placed Tyler Williams (Miami Nights), who completed effectively again out of the highest 20 this day trip. Ian Lopez de San Roman, who was fifth final yr, trailed Bennett by two and a half minutes for fourth, whereas Brennan Wertz (Mosaic Cycles), who completed second in 2022 and eleventh final yr, trailed one other 28 seconds to spherical out the boys’s prime 5.
Among the many stacked girls’s area, Jennifer Tave was fourth whereas Anna Hicks was fifth. 2023 podium finishers Niky Taylor and Maude Farrell (Pivot / Easton / Pas Regular Studios) completed within the prime 11 this time, Farrell in ninth and Taylor two spots again. Anna Yamauchi was 14th and Alison Tetrick (Specialised) was seventeenth.
Outcomes – High 10s
| Pos. | Rider Identify (Nation) Group | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kate Courtney | 2:52:02 |
| 2 | Flavia Oliveira Parks | 0:07:28 |
| 3 | Katerina Nash | 0:07:30 |
| 4 | Jennifer Tave | 0:11:22 |
| 5 | Anna Hicks | 0:15:39 |
| 6 | Caroline Dezendorf | 0:15:40 |
| 7 | Leslie Ethridge | 0:19:05 |
| 8 | Kelly Brennan | 0:26:16 |
| 9 | Maude Farrell | 0:31:41 |
| 10 | Saralita Flamm | 0:35:02 |
| Pos. | Rider Identify (Nation) Group | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Blevins | 2:28:40 |
| 2 | Peter Stetina | 0:00:06 |
| 3 | Sean Bennett | 0:04:36 |
| 4 | Ian Lopez de San Roman | 0:07:19 |
| 5 | Brennan Wertz | 0:07:47 |
| 6 | Tobin Ortenblad | 0:07:48 |
| 7 | Andy Lydic | 0:07:51 |
| 8 | Jurd Hurd | 0:08:01 |
| 9 | Ben Frederick | 0:09:57 |
| 10 | Skyler Taylor | 0:10:03 |
