Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) repeated for the elite men's victory at Castellón Gravel Race on Saturday, while German gravel champion Carolin Schiff (Canyon CLLCTV) rode solo for the elite women's title at the 97km event.
Since Valverde's initial foray into gravel in 2023 after 12 years on the WorldTour, he has won a trio of UCI Trek Gravel World Series races, all in Spain. Schiff, who also moved from a long career on the road to gravel, has notched nine UCI Gravel World Series podiums in two seasons, as well as a signature win at Unbound Gravel 200 and The Traka 200.
Valverde opened his 2025 campaign two weeks ago at the opening round of the Spanish Gravel Cup, finishing well outside the top 20 at Tres Cantos Gravel. The next two rounds of the Spanish series are also part of the UCI Gravel World Series, 114 Gravel Race in late March and La Indomable in late April.
Castellón Gravel Race moved two months earlier on the calendar than the inaugural edition in 2024 and served as the European lead-off event in the UCI Gravel World Series, selling out with 800 participants. The hilly circuit in the mountainous region of Castellón included 72% gravel roads and 2,500 metres of elevation gain, a relentless amount of climbing that led to a final 6km descent in Llucena and a stiff uphill finish into Llucena.
Valverde rode with Tiago Ferreira of Portugal and Sascha Weber of Belgium by the mid-point of the race, holding a slim 10-second margin over another trio that included Italian Matteo Fontana, Spanish rider Raul Rodriguez Jimenez (GR-100 MTB DC) and Frenchman Mathus Loman.
Once on the final climbing section, Valverde and Ferreira continued with Fontana now in the lead trio. Valverde then used a final acceleration on the uphill finish to distance Ferreira and ride solo across the finish with 12 seconds in hand, while Fontana ended in third, 1:18 back. Weber was next in fourth at 3:01 down.
Schiff carried a four-minute margin over the Spanish duo of Meritxell Figueras Garangou (Sant Just-Agrupacio Ciclista) and Marta Romeu Solaz (Movistar) as she sped away on the second half of the course to win her 2025 season debut.
Defending champion Sofía Rodríguez used the final climbing section to bridge to her Spanish compatriots and surge ahead of Solaz on the final uphill to take second, 1:27 behind Schiff, while Solaz was another 8 seconds back in third. Garangou and Jade Treffeisen of Germany rounded out the top five.
Other notable riders in the men's field were Jan Bakelants, finishing 22nd and Freddy Ovett and Nicholas Roche, the two riding together across the line in 87th and 88th, respectively. On the women's side, Elena Dušková of Lavita was sixth and Maddie Nutt of United Kingdom, who won Safari Gravel Race last year, was seventh.
The 2025 Trek UCI Gravel World Series, now in a fourth season, is a collection of 33 races which serve as qualifiers for the UCI Gravel World Championships, October 17-18 in Nice, France. With a cross-over calendar from last fall, the first two rounds were held in October in Seymour, Victoria, Australia and at the 2024 UEC European Gravel Championships in Asiago, Italy.
Three March events are next on the calendar for the UCI Gravel World Series, with Gravel Brazil on March 9 serving as the first World Series stop in South America. That is followed by Turnhout Gravel in Belgium on March 23 and 114 Gravel Race on March 29, which is a 123km point-to-point race from Elvas, Portugal to Badajoz, Spain.
