Felix Stehli and Zanri Rossouw won the first UCI Gravel World Series edition of The Ceder in South Africa, both shaking the last of their rivals on the Uitkyk Pass to claim solo victories at the 151km race.
After a 50km solo effort, Stehli took his first win of the season, finishing with a gap of just 26 seconds to Felix Ritzinger in the men's race while South African gravel champion Marco Joubert was just ten seconds back in the relatively tight battle for the podium spots.
In the women's competition Rossouw, the 2023 South African time trial champion, carved out a more substantial gap, finishing close to four minutes ahead of Catherine Colyn while Lize Cornelius was more than 14 minutes back.
The UCI Gravel World Series, which acts as qualifying for the Gravel World Championships to be held in Limburg on October 11 and 12, moves onto Australia next weekend with the Devils Cardigan round in Tasmania.
