Holmes sees double with Gralloch win

Ex-WorldTour rider's triumphant return to racing continues with glory on the gravel

- James Shrubsall

Resurgent Matt Holmes (OGT-Orientation Marketing) demonstrated an impressive mix of abilities when he won the Gralloch UCI gravel event on Saturday – just a week after winning the Lincoln Grand Prix.

The Manchester rider attacked solo with 25km left to ride of the 110km men’s race, going on to win by 1.30 ahead of second-placed Nathan Haas (Colnago), a fellow former WorldTour rider. Petr Vakoč (Canyon CLLCTV Gravel) was third at the same time as Haas.

“It starts up a 15-minute climb, and we went so hard,” said Holmes. “It was 400 watts for me for 15 minutes, which is hard with the surges in place. I was thinking, I am probably the strongest rider here. And I can’t do this. This is too much.”

Big-name scalps

But Holmes, who rode a Trek Checkpoint while he seeks an official bike sponsor, remained confident, watching the group slowly grind itself down until the time came to attack.

Among those that Holmes beat on the day in the men’s race were riders including Alex Dowsett, double Olympic gold-medal-winning triathlete Alistair Brownlee, and former British national champion Jacob Vaughan.