In its second edition, Big Sugar Gravel welcomed 915 riders to Bentonville, Arkansas. The stage was set for seasoned gravel riders to face off against WorldTour pros like EF Pro Cycling’s Lachlan Morton and Emily Newsom and Bora Hansgrohe’s Jordi Meeus. A warm morning greeted riders at the start line, with a high of 85 degrees set for the afternoon, a major difference from last year’s stormy conditions but the dry weather around Northwest Arkansas and Missouri left many exposed rocks throughout the route, creating rough and dusty conditions on course.

Russell Finsterwald and Paige Onweller emerged victorious in Bentonville to earn the neon Big Sugar Gravel trophy. After the race, Finsterwald, 31, described the day bluntly, “The best way to sum it up is that it was a dogfight out there. Everyone was racing for that top spot. There were a lot of places to move up in the (Life Time) Grand Prix.

” A lot of us were just going for it. It’s the last race of the season, there’s nothing to lose out there. It was full gas all day.

“I looked two hours in and we averaged 330 watts and was like, ‘It’s on today.’

“I just held on, had a little bit left at the end and threw in a solid attack.”

 

Onweller described herself as a ‘dark horse’ in an interview the night before the race. The 33-year-old from Grand Rapids, Michigan races for Abus Pro Cycling and crossed the line in 5:33:05. When asked what changed for her to earn her first major gravel win, Onweller said “Having the confidence to push the hills and just to know that I deserved to be in the front. Before I always had a little bit of doubt, I usually I don’t want to go down the descent first and slow down everyone behind me.

“My approach was a lot different today. I said ‘I’m going to drill the hills because I know I’m strong and minimize losses on the descents.’ But during the race, I could descend a little better and kept the gaps. I just kept pushing along.”

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HOW IT PLAYED OUT

Racers set off at 7:30 in the morning under partly cloudy skies and a warm breeze. By mile 20 there was a split of 16 riders with many favorites making it into the front including Finsterwald, Peter Stetina, John Borstelmann and WorldTour pro Jordi Meuss. At the first checkpoint, 38 miles in, EF rider Lachlan Morton and Howard Grotts held a gap of 30 seconds over the rest of the pack but Meuss had been caught out with a flat tire.

55 miles into the race came together with a lead group of 12 riders as the wind began to pick up and the riders began their return south.

Between there and the final checkpoint at mile 73 John Borstelmann went solo but was reeled into the lead group of 8 riders.

 

A southerly wind began to pick up and further split the group into the final selection of overall Life Time Grand Prix leader, Alexey Vermeulen, Russell Finsterwald, Keegan Swenson and last year’s winner Adam Roberge.

On the final climb with two miles to go Finsterwald made his move and split off, holding a 25-second lead over Keegan Swenson and Adam Roberge to the finish. Notably, Finsterwald raced an S-works Crux rather than the new Diverge STR Specialized unveiled before race day.

 

Ruth Winder took command of the women’s race early securing a 7-minute gap over a chasing group of 10 riders early. A determined Ornweller rallied a chase group to cut the gap in half by the first checkpoint at mile 38. By mile 73 Ornweller emerged solo with Emily Newsom and Alexis Skarda 4 minutes behind.

In the final 10 miles, Ornweller’s lead increased as Newsom dropped Skarda in a battle for second place.

At the line, Ornweller rolled through solo with Newsom 6:39 back and Skarda over 12 minutes in arrears.

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MEN’S RESULTS

1	Russell Finsterwald	Specialized Off-Road	6:21:22
2	Keegan Swenson	Santa Cruz htSQD	0:25
3	Adam Roberge	Jukebox Racing	0:31
4	Alexey Vermeulen	Jukebox Racing	1:20
5	Nicholas Roche	‘Privateer’	2:50
6	Alex Howes	EF Pro Cycling	3:43
7	Brennan Wertz	Pinarello Scuderia	7:37
8	Peter Stetina	‘Privateer’	7:44
9	John Borstelmann	Abus Pro Cycling	8:17
10	Cole Patton	Orange Seal	8:58

 

WOMEN’S RESULTS

1	Paige Onweller	Abus Pro Cycling	5:33:05
2	Emily Newsom	EF Education Tibco SVB	6:39
3	Alexis Skarda	Santa Cruz htSQD	12:37
4	Rose Grant	Juliana/SRAM Pro Team	9:36
5	Lauren De Crescenxo	Cinch Elite	17:14
6	Maeghan Easler	United Cycling	17:34
7	Sofia Gomez Villafane	Specialized	17:37
8	Whitney Allison	Bike Sports	17:39
9	Sarah Sturm	Specialized	17:49
10	Savilia Blunk	Orange Seal	17:59

 

View the results of all 915 riders at www.athlinks.com

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Race photos: Life Time