THE LAST DANCE: MADS WÜRTZ SCHMIDT AND GEERIKE SCHREURS TAKE THE 2026 GRAVEL EARTH SERIES OVERALL
Mads Würtz Schmidt and Geerike Schreurs win the GES Queen Race at The River By The Traka and leave the Belgian Ardennes as the 2026 Gravel Earth Series champions.
The final race. A new territory. And two Gravel Earth Series titles still to be decided.
The first edition of The River By The Traka brought the Gravel Earth Series to Bouillon for the final round of the 2026 season. The GES Queen Race 160K took the PRO and Age Group fields through the forests and valleys of the Belgian Ardennes, with everything coming down to one last race.
By the end of it, the two riders who had arrived in Belgium leading the championship had done much more than defend their positions.
Mads Würtz Schmidt and Geerike Schreurs both won in Bouillon.
And with it, they became the 2026 Gravel Earth Series champions.
A final through the Belgian Ardennes
The GES Queen Race started early on Sunday morning, with the PRO Men leaving Bouillon at 7:30 AM, followed by the PRO Women at 7:35 AM and the Age Group and Open riders at 7:45 AM.
Fog covered the Semois valley and temperatures were cool. The forests were dark and damp, creating a very particular atmosphere for the opening kilometres of the final.
As the race progressed, the conditions changed completely. The fog gradually lifted and the sun appeared over the Ardennes, leaving almost ideal temperatures for racing.
The 160-kilometre course didn’t revolve around one decisive climb. Its difficulty came from accumulation: repeated ascents, fast forest roads and constant changes of rhythm through the Belgian Ardennes.
And the pace at the front reflected it.
Mads finishes the job
Mads Würtz Schmidt arrived in Bouillon leading the Gravel Earth Series and with a significant advantage in the overall standings.
But he didn’t come to Belgium simply to protect it.
The Specialized Off-Road rider was the fastest over the 160 kilometres, crossing the finish line in 4:36:43 at an average speed of 34.7 km/h.
Behind him, the fight could hardly have been closer.
Célestin Guillon finished second in 4:39:43, with Petr Vakoč third just one second later in 4:39:44. Nils Brun and Joel Suter also finished in 4:39:44, while Tristan Nortje crossed the line in 4:39:45.
Only two seconds separated second from sixth place.
Bouillon was a very different race from the one that had seen Würtz Schmidt win The Traka 360 earlier in the season. Girona demanded almost ten hours of racing. The Ardennes delivered a shorter, much faster race, full of accelerations and changes of pace.
Different race. Same rider on the top step.
Würtz Schmidt closes the 2026 Gravel Earth Series as champion with 220 points.
Geerike answers with a win
If the men’s overall arrived in Bouillon with Würtz Schmidt holding a comfortable advantage, the women’s title was much more open.
Geerike Schreurs started the final with 194 points, only 23 ahead of Axelle Dubau-Prévot. With the final classification calculated from each rider’s best results, the title was still there to be raced for.
Schreurs left no room for calculations.
The Specialized Off-Road rider completed the 160K in 5:23:13, opening a gap of more than five minutes and taking victory in the final race of the season.
Behind her came another incredibly close finish.
Larissa Hartog, Axelle Dubau-Prévot and Karolina Migoń all crossed the line in 5:28:47, finishing second, third and fourth respectively.
Schreurs had arrived in Belgium after winning CORE4, the penultimate round of the Gravel Earth Series in Iowa.
In Bouillon, she finished the job in the clearest possible way.
By winning.
She closes the season with 210 points and the 2026 Gravel Earth Series title.
The 2026 champions
The result in Bouillon confirmed Mads Würtz Schmidt and Geerike Schreurs as the 2026 Gravel Earth Series champions.
In the men’s classification, Würtz Schmidt finishes the season with 220 points, ahead of Hugo Drechou with 146 and Petr Vakoč with 140.
In the women’s classification, Schreurs takes the title with 210 points, ahead of Axelle Dubau-Prévot with 186 and Larissa Hartog with 161.
The GES Queen Race also decided the final Age Group classifications, with riders across the different categories completing their Gravel Earth Series season on the same 160K course.
Months of racing came down to one final day in the Ardennes.
The Last Dance
From Girona to the United States, Africa and now Belgium, the 2026 Gravel Earth Series has crossed very different territories and very different ways of racing gravel.
Bouillon was the final one.
A first visit to the Belgian Ardennes, racing through the forests surrounding the Semois, and a final that remained alive until the finish line.
Mads Würtz Schmidt winning solo.
Five riders separated by two seconds behind him.
Geerike Schreurs turning a 23-point championship lead into victory.
Three women crossing the line in the same second behind her.
And the final PRO and Age Group titles of the season decided in Bouillon.
Mads Würtz Schmidt and Geerike Schreurs are the 2026 Gravel Earth Series champions.
The Last Dance is over. What a way to finish.
