The 13th qualifier event of the season in La Bresse, France this weekend was a hard race with 3500m of elevation on a 178km course, the longest race in the full UCI Gran Fondo World Series.
The start was given on top of La Bresse-Hohneck ski station for a challenging race over different climbs from which the majority are not very long but can be steep. Finish was after a 9km climb back to the altitude of La Bresse-Hohneck (898m).
Michiel Minnaert (BEL) and Moritz Beinlich (GER) got away after 40km to make a big gap. Minnaert made his final move on the second last climb to win 30 seconds ahead of Beinlich to take the overall win in an average speed of 36.2 km/h. Bjorn De Decker (BEL) finished as third at 4 minutes.
Martha Maltha (NED), reigning world champion in the F35 age category won the female race in an average speed of 32.7 km/h showing her beautiful rainbow jersey. She won 20 minutes ahead of Julia Schallau (GER) and 26 minutes to Aurore Pauchet (FRA) for an international podium. Maltha also won the UCI Gravel World Series race in Valkenburg two weeks ago.
