La Santa Vall: Kick-off of the Gravel Earth Series 2024 in the gravel paradise of Girona

The second edition of the Gravel Earth Series is already in full swing. La Santa Vall was the name of the first race in the series, which will visit 13 countries over 20 events. The aim is to take gravel racing to a new level as a competitive sport, which is also ensured by the international line-up of the races. Petr Vakoc from the Czech Republic and Ashleigh Moolman from South Africa won the first event in the series. They now lead the overall standings with 750 points.

The three stages of La Santa Vall

The venue for Santa Vall was the town of Sant Gregori, just five minutes from the Catalan city of Girona. Three very different stages challenged the field of participants. Everyone was greeted with a agonising prologuewhere 350 metres of altitude had to be conquered over a distance of just over 6 kilometres. On the second day, 72.5 kilometres with 630 metres of elevation gain were on the agenda. Similar to an enduro race or as with the Grinduro, only two previously marked sections were timed and added together. The final stage of 116 kilometres with 1540 metres of elevation gain rounded off the weekend.

The Gravel Earth series

Organiser Klassmark assembled a first-class field of starters for the opening race of the 2024 Gravel Earth Series. The events in the series are categorised differently, with five events receiving the "Global" award:

• Gravel Earth (750 points)
• Gravel Earth Global (1000 points)
• Gravel Earth Final (1500 points)

Depending on the category, the fastest person wins points. A distinction is made between male, female and diverse (non-binary). The following people also receive points depending on the race. There are also finisher points for everyone who reaches the finish line.

Only the two best results of the year and the result of the final are included in the final Gravel Earth Series ranking. So you don't have to take part in every race in the series in order to score as many points as possible, but you do have to be skilful in your selection and be strong.

La Santa Vall 2024

The standard of the participants in Santa Vall was high - equal to or even higher than the global challenges of the Gravel Earth Series, according to a press release. Obviously nobody wanted to miss the start of a long and exciting season.

The women's race

Ashleigh Moolman, sixth in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2023, transferred her skills from the road to the gravel of Santa Vall. On the first stage, she had a lead of around a minute over her main rivals despite the short distance. She defended this lead over the next few days and finished third and second respectively, just seconds behind the winner in each case. Morgan Aguirre (USA) won the second stage and also finished the La Santa Vall trilogy in second place, less than a minute behind. The podium was completed by Klara Sofie Skovgård (DK) completed the podium. Both the American and the Dane achieved two podium places and finished all stages in the top four. This position in the overall classification was held by Dutch rider Geerike Schreurs (NL), who also won the third stage. Overall, Geerike Schreurs was only 11 seconds behind the final podium.

In the second slide of the embedded Instagram post, the top 10 of the women's race are listed.

The men's race

The men's race was very similar. The future race winner Petr Vakoc (CZ) was the fastest on the mountain of the first stage. The differences between all athletes were minimal during the three races. The first nine podium finishers in Santa Vall were all within two and a half minutes of each other. Probably the biggest rival for Vakoc was Hans Becking (NL), who won the second stage and continued to catch up in the third. However, it was not enough for an overtaking manoeuvre. Six seconds lay between first and second place in the overall classification. Also David Lozano (ES), third overall, attempted a wild chase to catch up. There were 25 seconds between his time and that of the winner Petr Vakoc.

The Gravel Earth Series continues

The Gravel Earth Series has kicked off successfully and the standard is high. The next race will take place on 10 March at the Safari Gravel in Kenya.

All events of the Gravel Earth Series 2024

1. 10 March: Safari Gravel, Kenya, Gravel Earth Event
2. 12 - 14 April: Gravel Ibereólica, Spain, Gravel Earth Event
3. 20 April: IG360, Spain, Gravel Earth Event
4. 26 - 28 April: Utopia Gravel Festival, Spain, Gravel Earth Event
5. 1 - 5 May: The Traka, Spain, Gravel Earth Global Event
6. 11 May: Ukiah Mendo Epic, USA, Gravel Earth Event
7. 18 - 21 June: Migration Gravel Race, Kenya, Gravel Earth Global Event
8. 21 - 23 June: Gritfest, UK, Gravel Earth Event
9. 26 - 30 June: Oregon Trail Gravel, USA, Gravel Earth Global Event
10. 29 June: Octopus Gravel, Switzerland, Gravel Earth Event
11. 6 July: Gravel México, Mexico, Gravel Earth Event
12. 20 July: The Rift Gravel Race, Iceland, Gravel Earth Global Event
13. 3 August: Megre Gravel, Lithuania, Gravel Earth Event
14. 9 - 11 August: Gravel Weekend, Latvia, Gravel Earth Event
15. 23 - 24 August: Bergslagen NGS, Sweden, Gravel Earth Event
16. 31 August: Nordic GRVL Grinder, Denmark, Gravel Earth Event
17. 20 - 22 September: Falling Leaves Lahti, Finland, Gravel Earth Global Event
18. 12 - 13 October: Ranxo Gravel, Gravel Earth Final