Jarno Bellens stamped his authority on the Turnhout Gravel 144km UCI world championship qualifier today in the Belgian city of Turnhout, crossing the line in 3:37:58 to claim victory ahead of a desperately tight finishing group.
The Belgian hardman averaged 39.6 km/h over the demanding parcours, helping set a relentless punishing pace that characterised this race from start to finish. In true Flemish classics fashion, the gaps at the top were razor thin. Latvian Martinš Pluto followed just 29 seconds back in second place, with Belgian Lander Loockx completing the podium a single second later in 3:38:28.
In the elite women’s category, Australian Nicole Frain delivered a strong performance to take top honours, finishing the 144km route in 4:09:17 at an average of 34.658 km/h. Anne Knijnenburg of the Netherlands crossed the line one second later in second, with compatriot Wendy Oosterwoud completing the podium in third.
In the 72km race for older categories, Belgian Ronnie Gerts (2:07:26) and Emmanuelle Farcy (2:10:07) of France won for the men and women respectively.
From a field of over 2500 competitors, those finishing in the top 25% of their UCI age/gender category qualified for worlds – Q status – and kept their Gravel World Championship dreams very much alive.
Complete 2026 UCI Turnhout Gravel results HERE
Photo Credit: Facebook/marc.boonen.961
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