Justine Barrow and Julien Gagne fly the coop to say victory at Gravel Locos

It was a pair of decisive victories on the Gravel Locos 150 over the weekend as Australian champion Justine Barrow and Julien Gagne flew the coop and carved out clear lower solo victories in Hico, Texas.

Gagne claimed the lads’s 147 mile (237km) race with 6,285 toes (1916m) of climbing in 6:34:22 with Niki Terpstra almost three minutes again in second and Adam Roberge shut behind in third. It was an extended solo that led the Canadian to victory, with Gagne taking off after the group had thinned to round ten riders when there was nonetheless greater than 100km left to go.

Barrow constructed a fair larger hole on her nearest rival as she coated the marginally shortened course, with some river crossings eliminated as a result of excessive water ranges. The rider, who simply arrived within the United States days earlier than, completed greater than 14 minutes forward of Marisa Boaz whereas it was then Emily Newsom in third.

“With a mass begin occasion and a few tremendous sturdy males (and ladies) the primary 90 minutes of the race all the time appears like a crit for me, which actually hurts the legs for the rest of a 7.5 hour race. Not to say 33 diploma warmth,” stated Barrow in an Instagram post.

Barrow, who additionally this month received the Nannup UCI Gravel World Series spherical in Australia, discovered her approach off the entrance of the ladies’s subject in a gaggle of males at 25km in and did not see the her rivals for the remainder of the race. Although it wasn’t all clean crusing, with a crash at round 80km in resulting in a bent derailleur hanger.

“This win is a particular one, as I’ve by no means received a race > 200 km,” stated Barrow.” I used to be third right here final 12 months, and these lengthy races are their very own particular model of torture, making success that little bit sweeter!”

A win in Gravel Locos additionally bodes nicely for what’s subsequent, with the race a key lead in occasion for the quickly approaching June 1 race of Unbound Gravel.