{"id":229904,"date":"2026-02-23T01:50:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T01:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/23\/uci-gravel-world-series-romain-bardet-and-sofia-gomez-villafane-win-castellon-gravel-race\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T01:50:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T01:50:58","slug":"uci-gravel-world-series-romain-bardet-and-sofia-gomez-villafane-win-castellon-gravel-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/23\/uci-gravel-world-series-romain-bardet-and-sofia-gomez-villafane-win-castellon-gravel-race\/","title":{"rendered":"UCI Gravel World Series \u2013 Romain Bardet and Sof\u00eda G\u00f3mez Villafane win Castell\u00f3n Gravel Race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"10b25294-fb3a-4be3-964d-5cb9ed637f9d\">Romain Bardet (Factor Racing) and Sof\u00eda G\u00f3mez Villafane (Specialized Off-road) claimed victory at the Castell\u00f3n Gravel Race on Sunday, with both taking solo wins in the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/uci-gravel-world-series-events\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/uci-gravel-world-series-events\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/uci-gravel-world-series-events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UCI Gravel World Series<\/a> race that starts and finishes in the Spanish village of Llucena.<\/p>\n<p>Last week&#8217;s <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/sofia-gomez-villafane-and-mads-wurtz-schmidt-start-the-season-on-top-step-with-overall-victory-at-a-muddy-edition-of-santa-vall\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/sofia-gomez-villafane-and-mads-wurtz-schmidt-start-the-season-on-top-step-with-overall-victory-at-a-muddy-edition-of-santa-vall\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/sofia-gomez-villafane-and-mads-wurtz-schmidt-start-the-season-on-top-step-with-overall-victory-at-a-muddy-edition-of-santa-vall\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Santa Vall winner<\/a> Mads W\u00fcrtz Schmidt (Specialized Off-road) claimed second in the men&#8217;s race, with the European Champion finishing more than two minutes back from Bardet, while Mathijs Loman (Canyon x DT Swiss ATR) took third.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"10b25294-fb3a-4be3-964d-5cb9ed637f9d-2\">In the women&#8217;s event it was Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing) who took the runner-up position while new gravel racer Elena Hartmann \u2013 who won the Swiss national time trial title on the road from 2022-24 \u2013 came third.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-3 pb-4 mb-4 border-solid border-y border-neutral-300\">\n<span class=\"font-article-heading block pb-3 !text-base font-bold uppercase sm:text-sm text-[#333]\"><br \/>\nYou may like<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/sofia-gomez-villafane\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/sofia-gomez-villafane\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/riders\/sofia-gomez-villafane\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Villafane,<\/a> who started the season by winning at Santa Vall, had taken off after the first ten miles, working through the men&#8217;s fields out on the road. Aguirre, though, had certainly not let off in the pursuit behind, finishing just 17 seconds back.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the closing moments of the race I did get a good reminder at the end of the race that you don\u2019t ease up specially when you aren\u2019t aware of time gaps because I got quite the surprise when Morgan Aguirre was right behind me with just one kicker left before the finish line,&#8221; said <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DVEdOB9DInk\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DVEdOB9DInk\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"noopener\">Villafane in a social media post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">The race took place in the mountains near the east coast of Spain, with the 97km event 80% off-road and including more than 2500m of elevation gain.<\/p>\n<p>The Castell\u00f3n Gravel Race is the second event in the UCI Gravel World Series so far this year, with the racing in the qualifying series for the UCI Gravel World Championship having kicked off in 2026 with The Ceder in South Africa, which was won by Hayley Preen (Honeycomb 226ers) and Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM MTB).<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-RVi8ouqsu2mg8eV8nkkMLF\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-RVi8ouqsu2mg8eV8nkkMLF slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><em><strong>Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our gravel cycling coverage in 2026. We&#8217;ll be on the ground at the biggest races of the season, bringing you breaking news, expert analysis, in-depth features, and much more. <\/strong><\/em><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/sub24\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=Gravel26\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/sub24\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=Gravel26\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/sub24\/?utm_source=Referral+link&amp;utm_medium=Website&amp;utm_campaign=Gravel26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u><em><strong>Find out more.<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-RVi8ouqsu2mg8eV8nkkMLF-sIRAUTQWCYZMHcOUV0a8Qdwr9r6sbm8q\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-RVi8ouqsu2mg8eV8nkkMLF-sIRAUTQWCYZMHcOUV0a8Qdwr9r6sbm8q slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewbox=\"0 0 23 30\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M21.554 15.726a2.878 2.878 0 0 0-1.705-.374 2.881 2.881 0 0 0-1.388-3.068 2.877 2.877 0 0 0-1.992-.333 2.884 2.884 0 0 0-.1-.766 2.865 2.865 0 0 0-1.346-1.75c-.47-.27-.996-.4-1.527-.385l2.742-4.73a2.87 2.87 0 0 0 .323-.83h2.612V2.084h-2.661A2.861 2.861 0 0 0 15.18.385a2.903 2.903 0 0 0-3.952 1.055l-.373.644H2.983l1.003-1L2.99.09 1.28 1.793l-.999.995L2.99 5.484l.998-.994-1.003-.999h7.054L6.505 9.586c-.34.066-.905.186-1.523.366-1.405.41-2.321.895-2.8 1.483-.742.911-1.159 2.513-1.277 4.898l-.001.01c-.067 1.816.946 6.943.99 7.16a.688.688 0 0 0 1.35-.266c-.01-.051-1.023-5.177-.963-6.84.127-2.556.598-3.64.97-4.098.133-.163.602-.587 2.104-1.027l.206-.058-1.425 2.458a.685.685 0 0 0 .252.937c.33.19.75.077.94-.251L12.42 2.126a1.52 1.52 0 0 1 2.07-.552c.35.2.6.527.705.916.105.39.051.797-.15 1.145l-4.767 8.222a.685.685 0 0 0 .252.937c.33.19.75.077.94-.25l.794-1.368c.201-.348.529-.597.92-.702a1.508 1.508 0 0 1 1.854 1.066c.105.39.052.796-.15 1.144l-.377.652-.002.002-.898 1.55a.685.685 0 0 0 .252.938c.329.189.75.077.94-.251l.9-1.551c.201-.348.528-.597.92-.702a1.512 1.512 0 0 1 1.703 2.21l-1.223 2.11a.685.685 0 0 0 .252.938c.33.189.75.076.941-.252l.5-.862c.202-.348.529-.597.92-.702.392-.104.8-.051 1.15.15.723.416.972 1.34.554 2.06l-3.525 6.08c-.517.892-1.57 1.795-3.044 2.611-1.156.64-2.163.998-2.173 1.002a.685.685 0 0 0 .23 1.333.688.688 0 0 0 .229-.04c.18-.062 4.419-1.575 5.952-4.22l3.524-6.08a2.878 2.878 0 0 0-1.059-3.934Z\" fill=\"#333\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table tabindex=\"0\" class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">Men&#8217;s top 5<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Position<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Time<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Romain Bardet <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>3:16:39<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Mads W\u00fcrtz Schmidt<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>+2:04<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Mathijs Loman<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>+4:27<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Anton Stensby<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>+5:10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Paul Voss<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>+6:03<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"slice-container-table-RVi8ouqsu2mg8eV8nkkMLF-Y4Xh3Hx9GgieRTzEzBYntnL9ZjuEYNbb\" class=\"slice-container table-wrapper table-RVi8ouqsu2mg8eV8nkkMLF-Y4Xh3Hx9GgieRTzEzBYntnL9ZjuEYNbb slice-container-table\">\n<div class=\"table__instruction\">Swipe to scroll horizontally<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewbox=\"0 0 23 30\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M21.554 15.726a2.878 2.878 0 0 0-1.705-.374 2.881 2.881 0 0 0-1.388-3.068 2.877 2.877 0 0 0-1.992-.333 2.884 2.884 0 0 0-.1-.766 2.865 2.865 0 0 0-1.346-1.75c-.47-.27-.996-.4-1.527-.385l2.742-4.73a2.87 2.87 0 0 0 .323-.83h2.612V2.084h-2.661A2.861 2.861 0 0 0 15.18.385a2.903 2.903 0 0 0-3.952 1.055l-.373.644H2.983l1.003-1L2.99.09 1.28 1.793l-.999.995L2.99 5.484l.998-.994-1.003-.999h7.054L6.505 9.586c-.34.066-.905.186-1.523.366-1.405.41-2.321.895-2.8 1.483-.742.911-1.159 2.513-1.277 4.898l-.001.01c-.067 1.816.946 6.943.99 7.16a.688.688 0 0 0 1.35-.266c-.01-.051-1.023-5.177-.963-6.84.127-2.556.598-3.64.97-4.098.133-.163.602-.587 2.104-1.027l.206-.058-1.425 2.458a.685.685 0 0 0 .252.937c.33.19.75.077.94-.251L12.42 2.126a1.52 1.52 0 0 1 2.07-.552c.35.2.6.527.705.916.105.39.051.797-.15 1.145l-4.767 8.222a.685.685 0 0 0 .252.937c.33.19.75.077.94-.25l.794-1.368c.201-.348.529-.597.92-.702a1.508 1.508 0 0 1 1.854 1.066c.105.39.052.796-.15 1.144l-.377.652-.002.002-.898 1.55a.685.685 0 0 0 .252.938c.329.189.75.077.94-.251l.9-1.551c.201-.348.528-.597.92-.702a1.512 1.512 0 0 1 1.703 2.21l-1.223 2.11a.685.685 0 0 0 .252.938c.33.189.75.076.941-.252l.5-.862c.202-.348.529-.597.92-.702.392-.104.8-.051 1.15.15.723.416.972 1.34.554 2.06l-3.525 6.08c-.517.892-1.57 1.795-3.044 2.611-1.156.64-2.163.998-2.173 1.002a.685.685 0 0 0 .23 1.333.688.688 0 0 0 .229-.04c.18-.062 4.419-1.575 5.952-4.22l3.524-6.08a2.878 2.878 0 0 0-1.059-3.934Z\" fill=\"#333\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<div class=\"table__container\">\n<table tabindex=\"0\" class=\"table__wrapper table__wrapper--inbodyContent table__wrapper--sticky table__wrapper--divider\">\n<caption class=\"table__caption table__caption--top table__caption--left\">Women&#8217;s top 5<\/caption>\n<thead class=\"table__head\">\n<tr class=\"table__head__row\">\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Position<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Rider<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<th class=\"table__head__heading table__head__heading--left\" colspan=\"1\">\n<p>Time<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"table__body\">\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Sof\u00eda G\u00f3mez Villafane<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>3:54:57<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Morgan Aguirre<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>+17<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Elena Hartmann<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>+43<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Karolina Migon<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>+1:06<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"table__body__row\">\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>Sophie Wright<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"table_body__data\" colspan=\"1\" style=\"text-align:left\">\n<p>+2:00<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyclingnews.com\/pro-cycling\/racing\/uci-gravel-world-series-romain-bardet-and-sofia-gomez-villafane-win-castellon-gravel-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Romain Bardet (Factor Racing) and Sof\u00eda G\u00f3mez Villafane (Specialized Off-road) claimed victory at the Castell\u00f3n Gravel Race on Sunday, with both taking solo wins in the UCI Gravel World Series race that starts and finishes in the Spanish village of Llucena. Last week&#8217;s Santa Vall winner Mads W\u00fcrtz Schmidt (Specialized Off-road) claimed second in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":229905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-229904","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}