Mads Würtz Schmidt (PAS Racing) and Sofia Gómez Villafañe (Specialized) claimed the victories at The Traka 200, both winning solo with late attacks on the 202km course in the surroundings of Girona.
Gómez Villafañe swept up the women's victory in a time of 7:13:01, 44 seconds ahead of Unbound 200 winner Rosa Klöser after the pair had been together for much of the race. Annika Langvad (Specialized), who spent a long time trying to catch back on to the leaders, ended up finishing third, some six minutes down.
In the men's category, Matthew Beers (Specialized) came across the line to take second, 1:24 behind Würtz Schmidt, who claimed the title with a time of 6:12:21 after attacking in the final 20km.
In third, it was Filippo Conca (Swatt Club) who had been in a leading pair with Würtz Schmidt, but was beaten in a sprint by Beers, who came back after, at one point, being more than two minutes down on the Danish winner.
The Traka 200 started from the Parc de les Ribes del Ter, following on from The Traka 360 on Friday and the 560km Traka Adventure, which started on Thursday. The racing concludes with The Traka 100 on Sunday.
The 202km with 2,500m of elevation gain delivered a packed field of riders that in the men’s race included last year's winner Petr Vakoč, who was fourth this year and also a group of former road professionals from Daniel Oss – 76th among the field of newarly a thousand – to Greg Van Avermaet who was 20th.
In the women’s race, the debuting Villafañe had to overcome the likes of defending champion Carolin Schiff, The Hills winner Morgan Aguirre, last year's second-placed Klara Sofie Skovgaard Hansen and Cecily Decker, who delivered a show of strong form when she took third at Sea Otter Gravel. Decker was fourth at the end of the day while Schiff took sixth, Aguirre 17th and it was a tough day out for Skovgaard Hansen who struggled in the heat and came 21st.
A group of seven riders formed early in the race, but Villafañe and Klöser rode off the front of that group, Langvad slightly off the back, chasing, but never made it back as the gap widened to the leading duo.
Villafañe had headed into the race having grappled with some illness after the winning effort at Cape Epic and then continued on with a hectic spring schedule in the lead up to The Traka 200.
"I started to see a little glimmer of myself last weekend at the Belgian Waffle Ride in California, but with Specialized it was clear that I wasn't here for a result; I was here to experience it," said the rider who has dominated the US gravel scene in recent seasons. "That allowed me to test the field and see how the riders ride. I controlled the first two climbs and descents, willing to slam a rock, crash or flat. But my equipment was outstanding."
"I let other riders set the pace on the climbs, and then I pushed, and Rosa came with me, and we gapped the field. Annika was 25 seconds behind... and two against one is better, so I was able to sit on her wheel for a long time. I did help her, and gave 30- to 50-second pulls here and there, but she was also such a gem with pointing out the turns, and stuff. She could have easily let me go off-course. I returned the favour; she took an inside line over some questionable things, and she hit the ground hard and I waited for her," she explained.
Villafañe also shared a bottle with her rival while noting that she felt Klöser was in better shape than she was but that tactics were also at play.
"I knew my best chance at beating her was on the single track, just because I wasn't at that sprint at Unbound last year, and I didn't want to take my chances. I think I got a nice little gap and then full gas to the finish."
