A Canceled Race, A Stinging Penalty, and Epic Mud Marked Girona’s Traka Event
In an absolute mudfest of a weekend, Carolin Schiff (Canyon CLLCTV) and Petr Vakoc (Canyon Integray) won the Traka 200, while Peter Stetina (Canyon) and Karolina Migoń (PAS Normal) won the Traka 360 event. Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime) won the 100, while teammates Alexys Brunel and Jugo Drechou took the top two spots together in the century-distance race.
Here in the U.S., we like to think that we put on some of the premier gravel races. But if you want to experience true gravel paradise, you have to travel a little farther than Kansas. The Traka launched in 2019 and has grown each year to become known as the most popular gravel race in Europe, if not the world.
So while Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and Stillwater, Oklahoma, are nice, Girona, Spain, is truly the place for gravel racing. It’s impossible to measure anything in the U.S. to the Catalonian landscape, not to mention the community and the food of the region.
This weekend, it all went down. And if you watched the Vuelta Femenina, you may have noticed that Spain was more than a little soggy. In fact, they’ve received so much rain in the past month that Traka’s 560-kilometer race was canceled entirely. That left the 360, the 200, and the 100-kilometer races, all of which were also shortened slightly.
Carolin Schiff was absolutely dominant in the Traka 200 and defended her women’s 2023 title. The men’s finish was a little more dramatic, with a three-up sprint to the line. Cyclingnews reported that “Frederik Rassmann (Rose Racing Circle) crossed the line first, but a penalty meant Petr Vakoc (Canyon Integray) was ultimately declared the winner of the muddy event.
“Vakoc and Jasper Ockeloen (Sockeloen/Canyon) had rounded the final corner with Rassmann, who quickly took to the front and held that position to the line with enough of a gap to let out a wholehearted celebration as he crossed.”
It was later determined that Rassmann had been given a penalty. “A five-minute penalty kept him away from victory,” race organizers said in the press release. “The regulations make it clear that assistance cannot be received outside the established points, and the German did not comply with the rules.”
Rassmann himself posted on Instagram, “What should have been the sprint for the victory @thetraka. Unfortunately, I made a mistake in the feeding zone and got a time penalty. We get 'em next time.”
After the penalty, Vakoc took to the top step of the podium and Ockeloen moved up to second. Johan Jacobs (Movistar) took third. For the women, Klara Sofie Skovgaard Hansen (PAS Racing) took second, and Rosa Maria Klöser (MAAP Gravel Privateer) took third.
Peter Stetina (Canyon) and Karolina Migoń (PAS Normal) won the 360 event, which was shortened by 20 kilometers due to muddy conditions.
In the Traka 100 on Sunday, Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime) took the victory, with Anna van der Breggen coming in second and Femke Markus third. In the men’s 100, Groove Gravel teammates Alexys Brunel and Jugo Drechou took the top two spots after a game of rock-paper-scissors at the finish line. Brunel posted on Instagram, “Together, nothing is impossible.” Thomas Couzens (Ribble Collective) took third.
The Traka is part of the Global Earth Gravel Event Series. Next up in the series is the Migration Gravel Race in Kenya from June 18-21. The Gravel Earth final is at Ranxo Gravel October 12-13.
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