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Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) pushed previous recently-retired WorldTour professional Lawrence Naesen in a dash end to win the boys’s division of The Growler at Levi’s Gran Fondo, whereas Lauren De Crescenzo (LDC) soloed to victory within the ladies’s division.
The 140-mile, one-day highway race was modified this 12 months as a professional occasion with hefty elevation achieve, greater than 13,500 ft, and a hefty prize purse, $55,000. The Growler was a part of 14th version of Levi’s GranFondo based mostly in Windsor, California, with the professional race on tough, twisting roads of Sonoma County in northern California –thought-about to be ‘single observe for highway bikes’.
The highest 5 males and 5 ladies within the Growler shared the large payout equally. There have been a flurry of entries from younger riders not competing at Redlands Bicycle Traditional, proper by to skilled professionals now in search of fame and fortune in a number of off-road collection.
Becoming a member of Swenson and Naesen on the five-rider males’s podium had been Petr Vakoc in third, Ian Boswell in fourth whereas fifth went to Griffin Easter, who edged Peter Stetina in a dash for the ultimate spot.
De Crescenzo was joined on the ladies’s podium by runner-up Lauren Stephens, Sarah Sturm in third forward of Flavia Oliveira Parks and Emily Newsom in fifth.
It wasn’t solely the riders that completed in these prime slots that had the possibility to stroll away from the race with one thing priceless.
There was way over prize cash at stake defined occasion founder Levi Leipheimer, a former WorldTour rider and Sonoma County native who gained the Amgen Tour of California 3 times earlier than he retired in 2012. He included the King Ridge climb in The Growler, because it was additionally featured within the 2016 Tour of California, and he needed to create a possibility for brand new riders, not simply veterans.
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“We had the vast majority of the strongest riders within the nation,” Leipheimer instructed Cyclingnews as he mentioned the sphere of 104 women and men in The Growler.
“I hoped to create alternatives for up-and-coming younger riders to go toe-to-toe with these guys, on a stage enjoying subject, as a result of there was no staff help allowed on track. We had impartial help stations, impartial mechanical help, so everybody got here into it with equal alternative.”
One of many youngest riders within the subject was 17-year-old Elouan Gardon, who had top-five finishes for Fount Biking on levels as a class 3 rider at Valley of the Solar and Tucson Bicycle Traditional. He completed The Growler in 7:08:40 which was good for ninth total, Leipheimer calling him a “diamond within the tough”.
“And, you recognize, I am very happy with myself and Bike Monkey for creating and type of forging a brand new option to have a highway race that borrows from the gravel format and the self-supported surroundings that these athletes have realized to curate for themselves, and apply that to the highway.”
A majority of climbing on the course got here throughout three sections, King Ridge within the opening 45 miles, back-to-back climbs on Stewarts Level Highway on the mid-points, after which the Geysers, a 15-mile stretch with pitches of 12-13%, with a steep descent to a rolling 21 miles to the end.
“Superior day trip at Levi’s GranFondo! it was a lot enjoyable ripping the thin tires on some superb roads. Very stoked to have the ability to pull off the win after Tobin Ortenblad suffered off the entrance all day lengthy as a way to make my day a bit simpler again within the chase group,” Swenson mentioned in an Instagram put up concerning the race and his Santa Cruz teammate.
In a single day rain soaked the course and introduced snowfall to the best peaks within the coastal hills of the area, with wintry chilly climate on race day, which Swenson politely referred to as “lower than best situations for a motorbike race”.
Ortenblad was the primary rider to assault on the entrance and stayed away for the primary half. Naesen and Vakoč joined forces to reel again the breakaway, and the duo spent 60 miles alone collectively. Swenson was in a position to get to the entrance group driving with Boswell and Easter, with Ortenblad off the again.
On the ultimate downhill to the Alexander Valley, Boswell and Swenson accelerated away, however Naesen rejoined and he broke away with Swenson for the two-rider battle to the end line, the US gravel nationwide champion successful in 6:43:40.
The winner of her third MidSouth gravel race in March, De Crescenzo was a part of the early number of professional ladies with Stephens, Parks and Strum on the primary of three climbing sections. On the double climbing part referred to as the “dragon’s spine” with 70 miles to go, De Crescenzo ignited a second solo effort and this one caught to the end in a time of seven:18:50.
“The all day rain made an already epic day much more epic. I attacked on a steep pitch on the second of three climbs from a bunch with Lauren Stephens and Flavia. For the following 80 miles, it was simply me and the open highway,” De Crescenzo mentioned on Instagram.
Parks gave chase together with Stephens, whereas Sturm rode additional again with Emily Newsom. The US gravel nationwide champion was in a position to drop Parks on the ultimate climb. Sturm then discovered the again wheel of the Parks with eight miles to trip, and the 2 rode collectively till Sturm surged throughout the road for third forward of the Brazilian.
Leipheimer has already begun planning the second version of The Growler, scheduled for April 19, 2025.
