GRAVEL EARTH SERIES READY TO CONQUER ICELAND’S HIGLANDS AT THE RIFT
The fourth Gravel Earth Global of the season will bring together the best athletes of the moment
The event offers a fascinating 200-kilometer journey through the lava fields in the heart of Iceland
On 20th July, gravel enthusiasts from around the earth will gather for The Rift, a premier gravel race held in the mesmerizing highlands of Iceland. The 200-kilometer race will challenge bikers with its demanding terrain in a new Gravel Earth Series battle, the prestigious circuit that is changing the paradigm of this sport. It will be the time to honor the best gravel specialists in the world. Nobody wants to miss one of the biggest events of the year.
The Rift stands out as one of the five Global events in the Gravel Earth Series, each of which awards 1000 points to the winner. This makes The Rift a crucial race for competitors vying for the top spots in the overall ranking, which consider the two best scores of the year plus the result of the Gravel Earth Final. The Rift promises to be a thrilling showdown, with bikers pushing their limits to secure valuable points.
Bikers will embark from the quaint town of Hvolsvöllur, located along Iceland’s southern coast. The course will take them through some of the country’s most stunning and rugged landscapes. As they navigate the course, they will encounter cascading waterfalls, black sand beaches, glaciers, and the imposing Hekla volcano. The race traverses the continental rift between North America and Eurasia, a geological marvel that grows an inch every year, creating a surreal backdrop of vast lava fields.
The most important names of the year will be present on this stage. In the men’s deck we find the current leader of the Gravel Earth Series, the Canadian Rob Britton, the winner of the last edition of The Rift, the Norwegian Simen Nordal, or the current champion of the circuit, the Italian Mattia de Marchi. Alongside them an infinite list of athletes capable of anything. The French Hugo Drechou and the American Chad Haga land in Iceland in the Top 10. Many other cyclists aspire to these privileged places. We are talking about the Swiss Nils Correvon, the French Alexys Brunel, Alexis Roche or Julian Lino, the Dutch Piotr Havik and Diederik Deelen, the Danish Asbjorn Hellemose, Tobias Morch and Thomas Bundgaard, the Australians Nathan Haas and Freddy Ovet, the Canadian Benjamin Perry, the Belgian Lawrence Naesen, the British Ben Thomas, Matheven Bond and Tom Couzens, the Italian Mattia Gaffuri, the Norwegian Jonas Orset, the Spanish Alejandro Martinez or the Portuguese Tiago Ferreira. Impossible to put so much talent together.
The women’s race will also be a thriller. We can only draw this conclusion by reading the list of entries in The Rift. The Polish Karolina Migon, the Dutch Geerike Schreures, the British Danielle Shorsbree and the Danish Klara Sofie Skovgard arrive as the best placed in the ranking. They want to continue climbing positions, as well as the French Axelle Dubau-Prevot, the German Svenja Betz, the Australian Justine Barrow, the Americans Morgan Aguirre, Hannah Shell and Cecily Decker, the British Leah Dixon, the Canadian Sarah Diekmeyer or the Spanish Claudia Galicia, Anuchi Gago and Maria Capdevila. There are plenty of reasons to experience an epic The Rift.
All these athletes, along with other amateurs who will arrive in Iceland with different personal goals, will meet to endurance and mental fortitude, but to the raw beauty of nature too. Participants will face a battlefield sculpted by volcanic eruptions, offering an unpredictable and challenging experience. The event encapsulates the essence of gravel racing, set in one of the world’s most unique natural environments. This epic adventure that celebrates the awe-inspiring landscapes of Iceland.
