First Gravel Race of the Season – UCI Gravel World Series Turnhout
Last Sunday, our team kicked off the racing season with a real highlight: the UCI Gravel World Series race in Turnhout, Belgium. The course covered 150 kilometers with only 220 meters of elevation, making it flat but still a true challenge.
Originally, Simon Keppelmüller and Jurek Sokolowski were supposed to start together, but Simon had to withdraw at short notice due to illness. However, he was still able to support Jurek from the sidelines, handing him an important bottle along the way. The start was, as usual in these races, extremely fast. The tight gravel corners made it particularly challenging—hard accelerations were required again and again. This took a toll on Jurek’s energy, and he eventually had to let the main group go. After two weeks of illness, he was still lacking some freshness, so he decided to pace himself for the remainder of the race.
Even though the season opener didn’t go as planned, we take the experience with us and look ahead. Next up is the UCI Gravel World Series race at Wörthersee—where we aim to go all in again!
