Tessa Nieges (LIV Racing) and Paul Voss (AUTˈSAID) emerged as winners of the sixth round of the UCI Gravel World Series in Aachen, Germany last Saturday. The 3RIDES event was one of the 16 qualifying matches for the UCI Gravel World Championship, which required a circuit of 18.5 kilometers. Both winners won by a small margin at the finish line.
In the women’s category, Nieges outpaced Carolyn Schiff (Canyon) in the sprint, while in the men’s, Voss attacked to beat Joris Nieuwenhaus (Varoise Trek) by a slim margin of one second. Daan Soete (Deschacht Hens Maes CX Team) finished in third place.
Throughout the race, Schiff maintained an offensive strategy leading up to the final lap. Neevjes, however, attacked on the climb dropping World Tour sprinter Lorena Wiebes (SD Works) and managed to cross the bridge just before the finish line. Winning the race, Nephjes expressed, “This was a very valuable win for me. Today I thought I would finish second, but then in the last corner, I caught Carolyn.” Neevjes admitted that she never expected to win, but the quality of the participants in the race truly surprised her.
Voss, who had targeted gravel unbound for this season, was astonished by his unexpected victory. “I had a problem during that time, and it really hit me hard. That’s why I screamed so loudly at the finish line. It was impossible to drive alone here. It was a very fast race, despite the rain the day before.”
Gravel world champion Gianni Fell. Mörsch (Alpecin Dukuninck), renowned ex-racer André Greipel, and former cyclocross world champion Erwin Verbecken also participated in the event. However, Fell. Mörsch failed to finish the race.
The men’s top ten also included Joris Nieuwenhaus (Ned) Zelhem, Daan Soete (Bell) Grobendonk, Ryan Christensen (New Zealand) Bolton Equities Black Spoke Pro Cycling, Eli Izerbeit (Bell) Powells Southen – Bingoal, Juli Holman (Germany) Movistar Team, Ryan Kamp (Ned) Powells Southen – Bingoal, Jasper Okeroen (Ned) Canyon, Matthias van Roy (Bell) Cycle Passion – Scott Racing Team, Jan Beekerants (Bell) Volselaar, and Seppe Rombouts (Bell) RB Zelfbow UCT.
Meanwhile, the women’s top ten also included Carolin Schiff (Ger) CANYON CLLCTV, Lorena Wiebes (Ned) Team SD Works, Annabelle Fischer (Great Britain) Fechy-Vaux, Rosa Klezer (Germany) Frederiksberg, Jade Treffeisen (Germany) Team Embrace The・World Cycling, Nele Rhein (Germany) PZ Giessen Racing Team, Lea Lützen (Ger) Kandie Gang, Femke de Vries (Ned) GT Krush Rebellease, and Maïté Barthels (Lux) Hess Cycling Team.