Header image courtesy of @Sandra Azpilicueta
The Tierra Estella Epic Gravel is one of the oldest gravel races in Spain. Historically run in February and always attracting large numbers of participants, this year it gained UCI status as part of the Gravel World Series and shifted its start date to early April. Jorge Padrones joined in with the 700 participants at the event and sent in this great write-up.
Image courtesy of @Sandra Azpilicueta
On this year’s fifth edition of this race, more than 700 participants went to the Estella area in Navarra, northern Spain, to enjoy a beautiful day of gravel riding. As you can tell from the entry numbers, this event is always a success - there are not many events that can attract so many gravel-loving participants. This also shows us the good and healthy moment that gravel riding is having.
Image courtesy of @Sandra Azpilicueta
The Tierra Estella Epic gravel was one of the first gravel races in Spain, but his year’s edition came along with some changes. There was a change in the dates on which it was scheduled - moving it from February to April. This was a good change in my opinion, firstly because temperatures are milder in April but essentially because the fields and nature show us all their beauty and splendour, making it an unbelievable experience to cycle on the fast gravel roads while crossing fields with a multitude of shades of green.
Image courtesy of @Fotos Carreras
Also, as a novelty this year the race was included as part of the UCI World Gravel Series, so it attracted some big names, both from national and international backgrounds.
Image courtesy of @Fotos Carreras
One of the strongest points of this event is the course. A course thoroughly planned with care to boost to the maximum the excitement among the participants. A balanced combination of fast gravel roads, double tracks, some easy technical terrain and some flowy single tracks helped make all of us arrive at the finish line with big smiles on our faces.
Irene Trabazo was the winner in the female category and Tiago Ferreira, the former MTB XCM World and European champion, was the winner in the male category.
Image courtesy of @Fotos Carreras
But not all of this event was about competition. Aside from the UCI race, there were also three non-competitive distances, 120 km, 71 km and 36 km so everybody could have a taste of it.
To finish the day, lunch was served for everybody after the finish line so we could share stories about our race and enjoy a perfect cycling atmosphere.
Image courtesy of @Fotos Carreras
Overall, a beautiful and fantastic day in the saddle with a perfect organisation that every year try to improve and make this event even better.