The Gravel Earth Series rolled through the forests of Anykščiai last weekend for the sixth edition of Megre Gravel, Lithuania’s flagship gravel race, and delivered two of the tightest finishes the series has seen this year.
In the men’s 150km race, Estonian rider Rait Arm out-sprinted a three-man group to take the win in 03:37:30, with Jordy Bouts finishing just fractions of a second behind and Magnus Bak Klaris completing the podium less than a second off the pace. The 26-year-old, who came through Estonia’s Tartu development pipeline, brings a strong road pedigree to gravel. He took bronze in the under-23 road race at the 2019 European Road Championships, was runner-up at the Estonian National Time Trial Championships the following year, and shares the record for the most overall victories at the Baltic Chain Tour. Saturday’s sprint victory in his first international-level gravel race suggests his road-honed speed translates well off the tarmac.
The women’s 150km race was almost as close at the front. Dutch rider Marjolein van ‘t Geloof, who normally races on the road for Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi, timed her finishing effort perfectly to win in 04:26:37, holding off French gravel champion Axelle Dubau-Prévôt by 2 seconds. Swedish privateer Nathalie Eklund rounded out the podium, 8 seconds back.
Over the shorter 100km distance, local rider Arijus Gliaudelis took a clear win for the home crowd in 02:45:11, with Kazimieras Kasteckas finishing 15 seconds back in second and Karolis Simėnas third, nearly 3 minutes further behind. In the women’s 100km field, Lithuania’s Skaistė Mikašauskaitė led from early on to win in 03:05:56, with Greta Briedytė second, 2 minutes 7 seconds back, and Sweden’s Marie Rydne completing the podium.
Megre Gravel remains one of the highlights of the Gravel Earth Series calendar, drawing a strong international field to Lithuania’s Baltic gravel roads each August.
Photo Credit: Energus Cycling Team
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