Ex-WorldTour rider’s triumphant return to racing continues with glory on the gravel
Resurgent Matt Holmes (OGT-Orientation Marketing) demonstrated an impressive mix of abilities when he won the Gralloch UCI gravel event on Saturday – just a week after winning the Lincoln Grand Prix.
The Manchester rider attacked solo with 25km left to ride of the 110km men’s race, going on to win by 1.30 ahead of second-placed Nathan Haas (Colnago), a fellow former WorldTour rider. Petr Vakoč (Canyon CLLCTV Gravel) was third at the same time as Haas.
“It starts up a 15-minute climb, and we went so hard,” said Holmes. “It was 400 watts for me for 15 minutes, which is hard with the surges in place. I was thinking, I am probably the strongest rider here. And I can’t do this. This is too much.”
Big-name scalps
But Holmes, who rode a Trek Checkpoint while he seeks an official bike sponsor, remained confident, watching the group slowly grind itself down until the time came to attack.
Among those that Holmes beat on the day in the men’s race were riders including Alex Dowsett, double Olympic gold-medal-winning triathlete Alistair Brownlee, and former British national champion Jacob Vaughan.
“It’s a really nice event,” Holmes added. “I can’t recommend it enough to anyone to go and have a go at it.” Riders enjoyed warm sun and dry conditions for the event, which starts and finishes in the town of Gatehouse of Fleet in Scotland’s Dumfries and Galloway region.
The route heads north from Gatehouse and into the surrounding hills, and is characterised by wide gravel forest tracks and long, sometimes steep climbs.
As an official UCI World Championship qualifier, a finish in the top 25% of each event or age group nets riders a place in the World Championships, starting in Halle, Belgium this October (see boxout).
Women’s race
The women’s event, also over 110km, was won by Geerike Schreurs of SD Worx-Protime, who also went solo to win by 29 seconds over second-placed Nicole Frain (Hess Cycling). The pair had broken away on the first climb of the race, holding out for its length before Screurs secured a gap over her breakaway partner on the final descent. European gravel champion Tiffany Cromwell – who also won the last round of the Gravel World Series in South Africa – was third, sprinting home
