Riders tackled Iceland’s black lava fields and ever-changing weather on Saturday as The Rift, the Lauf Cycles-organised bucket-list gravel classic, returned for its 2026 edition across the tectonic divide between the North American and Eurasian plates. The event once again attracted a mixed field of gravel privateers, former WorldTour professionals and, this year, one of mountain biking’s most decorated champions.
200km Elite Men
Anton Stensby took victory in 06:16:51, holding off Rasmus Bøgh Wallin by just 20 seconds after nearly six and a half hours of racing. Adne Koster completed the podium, 39 seconds back, with Andrew L’Esperance fourth, 4 minutes 35 seconds behind, and Julien Gagné rounding out the top five, a further second adrift. The battle for the podium remained remarkably close, with just 4 minutes 36 seconds separating second and fifth.
The win marks a breakthrough for the 25-year-old, who spent last season balancing road and gravel racing. Stensby finished 14th at the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships and was runner-up at the European Continental Championships gravel race that same year, alongside a string of strong domestic road performances in Belgium and a top-15 overall finish at the Tour of South Bohemia.
Saturday’s victory in Iceland is his first major gravel title and suggests last year’s near misses at the World Championships and European Championships were building towards a breakthrough.
Further down the results sheet, several notable names added further depth to the field. Sixth-placed Petr Vakoč, the Czech rider who spent a decade in the WorldTour with Quick-Step and Alpecin-Fenix before retiring from road racing in 2021, has since built one of gravel’s most decorated palmarès, including victories at Traka 200 and multiple rounds of the UCI Gravel World Series. He has previously described Iceland’s course as one of his favourites on the calendar.
Seventh-placed Mattia De Marchi, one of Europe’s leading ultra-gravel specialists, finished just seconds behind Vakoč.
Tenth place went to Nino Schurter, widely regarded as the greatest cross-country mountain biker of all time, with ten world titles and Olympic gold to his name. Schurter stepped away from World Cup cross-country racing in 2025 but remains with SCOTT-SRAM and has spent 2026 building a gravel programme, contesting races in Italy and Spain before making the trip to Iceland. His finish, 15 minutes 1 second behind Stensby, adds another chapter to his evolving gravel career.
200km Elite Women
Haley Smith claimed victory in 07:25:50, with Erica Magnaldi second, 1 minute 1 second behind, and Morgan Aguirre third, 4 minutes 43 seconds back. Klara Sofie Skovgård Hansen finished fourth, 16 minutes 37 seconds down, while Sophie Vitzthum von Eckstaedt completed the top five, 22 minutes 57 seconds behind the winner.
Smith arrived in Iceland in strong form after being named among the Life Time Grand Prix wildcard selections for the 2026 season, underlining the growing crossover between North American gravel racing and European events such as The Rift.
Elsewhere on the course
In the 200km Open categories, Charles Hall won the men’s race in 06:58:48, ahead of Thomas Nærland by 23 minutes 47 seconds, while Chelsea Frengs claimed the women’s title in 08:42:58, with Katharina Seidel second, 14 minutes 6 seconds back.
The 140km Open titles went to Simone Lapo Zoadelli in 04:54:18 and Júlía Oddsdóttir in 05:56:01.
The standout story of the weekend, however, came in the inaugural 330km Abyss. Chase Wark powered to victory in 14:06:26, defeating Mathieu Bélanger-Barrette by 9 minutes 42 seconds in the first running of the ultra-distance event. Madeleine Nutt won the women’s race in 17:08:03. Organisers confirmed it was the longest course ever offered at The Rift, providing a fitting finale to a punishing day of Icelandic gravel racing.
Photo Credit: The Rift
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