Lorena Wiebes and Niels Vandeputte take Victory at 2026 UCI Eislek Gravel Luxembourg
Luxembourg’s first-ever UCI Gravel race delivered a debut worthy of its setting — a brutal, tactical, endlessly shifting battle fought beneath the walls of Vianden Castle. Riders were thrown straight into the deep end with a cobblestone climb that shattered the bunch before the race had even settled, forcing early decisions and exposing who had the legs to survive a long day of pressure.
The opening 25 km loop played out like a reconnaissance that still hurt. The fast, twisting riverside paths along the Our encouraged aggression, and every acceleration stretched the field thinner. By the time the race crossed the finish line for the first time, the favourites were already marking each other, and the elastic behind them was fraying.
The German Loop changed the rhythm but not the intensity. With smoother gradients and faster terrain, the race turned into a test of positioning and patience. Riders who gambled too early paid for it; those who hid in the wheels waited for the moment the course crossed back into Luxembourg and the cobbles returned to settle the score.
In the men’s race, the decisive move formed with clinical precision. A group of around ten riders — including Lukas Pöstlberger, Niels Vandeputte, Joris Nieuwenhuis, Petr Vakoc, Hugo Drechou and PAS Racing’s Magnus Bak Klaris — forced daylight on the German side of the loop. The cooperation was uneasy but effective, each rider knowing the final climb back toward Vianden would be the real selection point. Klaris and Drechou drove the pace on the smoother sections, while Vakoc and Nieuwenhuis repeatedly tested the group on the rises.
By the final kilometres, the breakaway had become a knife-edge stalemate. Every rider was waiting for someone else to blink. Vandeputte played it perfectly — never overcommitting, never showing panic, always glued to the right wheel. When the sprint finally ignited, he launched with devastating timing, powering past Nieuwenhuis and holding off Vakoc in a three-way drag race that decided the podium by a single second.
The women’s race was equally tactical but far more explosive. A breakaway of four — Lorena Wiebes, Sophie Wright, Femke Gerritse and Hanne Van Loock — formed early, driven by the repeated accelerations on the riverside paths. Van Loock was the first to crack under the pressure, leaving a trio that worked together only out of necessity. Wiebes, normally known for her sprint, rode with the confidence of a rider who knew she had more than one weapon.
On the second ascent toward Vianden, she proved it. Lorena Wiebes launched a sharp, committed attack that neither Sophie Wright nor Femke Gerritse could follow. Once she had daylight, she never looked back. Her solo ride to the finish was a statement — not just a win, but a declaration that she can dominate gravel with the same authority she brings to the road.
Luxembourg’s UCI Gravel debut was more than a race. It was a tactical chess match played at full throttle, a course that rewarded intelligence as much as power, and a finish that crowned two riders who mastered both.
In the Medio races, experience and race craft proved decisive. Udo Bölts rode with trademark patience, marking every early move before unleashing the kind of steady, relentless pressure that only a lifetime of racing can produce, breaking his rivals long before the finish line. Marijke De Smedt delivered an equally commanding performance in the women’s event, reading the race perfectly, responding to every acceleration, and timing her effort to control the front of the race from the final climb back into Vianden.
2026 UCI Eislek Gravel Luxembourg 111km Elite Men Top 10
1. Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin–Premier Tech) – 3:25:24
2. Joris Nieuwenhuis (Heizomat–Cube) – 3:25:25
3. Petr Vakoc (Factor Racing) – 3:25:25
4. Hugo Drechou (Gravel Nation) – 3:25:26
5. Magnus Bak Klaris (PAS Racing) – 3:25:26
6. Kevin Kuhn (Heizomat–Cube) – 3:26:15
7. Ruud Junior Nagengast (Metec–Solarwatt p/b Mantel) – 3:27:53
8. Linus Østdal – 3:27:54
9. Joel Roth (BIXS Race Team) – 3:28:16
10. Silas Koech (Lotto Kern-Haus Outlet Montabaur) – 3:28:16
2026 UCI Eislek Gravel Luxembourg 111km Elite Women Top 10
1. Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx Protime) – 4:03:08
2. Sophie Wright (Ribble Outliers) – 4:04:24
3. Femke Gerritse (Team SD Worx Protime) – 4:05:58
4. Hanne Van Loock (Reverb Cycling | 3T) – 4:09:06
5. Teuntje Beekhuis (Uno-X Mobility) – 4:12:19
6. Mariëlle Trouwborst (KMC Mountainbiketeam) – 4:14:16
7. Romy Kasper (PAS Racing) – 4:15:10
8. Yael Prenger (Cube Store Friesland) – 4:15:37
9. Camilla Bye (Minimax Cycling Team) – 4:16:00
10. Wendy Oosterwoud (PAS Racing) – 4:18:02
2026 UCI Eislek Gravel Luxembourg 74km Medio Men Top 10
1. Udo Bölts – 2:40:00
2. Serge Compère (Team Spartacus) – 2:47:28
3. Pascal Triebel (LG Belvaux) – 2:49:30
4. Jochen Scheibler (RV Blitz Oberbexbach) – 2:53:48
5. Claude Jacquemin (Belgian Hornets Cycling Team) – 2:55:16
6. Dirk Claes (DSP) – 2:55:23
7. Jean Paul Haaksman (WV Het Stadion) – 2:55:23
8. Volker Schlegel (RIG-Freiburg / DCCC) – 2:59:09
9. Dieter Vorbeck (Next Level4 Tel Gravel Racing) – 2:59:36
10. Robin Delve (Mid Devon Cycling Club) – 3:00:34
2026 UCI Eislek Gravel Luxembourg 74km Medio Women Top 10
1. Marijke De Smedt (Vanomobil) – 3:02:41 [F55]
2. Annick Van Leuven – 3:08:09 [F60]
3. Tania Arensdorf (Dreambikeshop) – 3:34:35 [F50]
4. Suzie Godart (CCI Differdange) – 3:36:42 [F60]
5. Dale Maizels – 3:44:36 [F60]
6. Sandrine Hoessler (LBC Fameck) – 3:55:10 [F50]
7. Jo Blanchaert (Individueel) – 3:57:32 [F55]
8. Karen De Keulenaer – 3:58:43 [F60]
9. Sophie Petithory (AC Bischwiller) – 4:06:58 [F50]
10. Nadine Monsieur – 4:21:52 [F50]
11. Henriëtte Kikken – 2:01:08 (37 km short course) [F60]
2026 UCI Eislek Gravel Luxembourg Results: https://www.acn-timing.com/?lng=EN#/events/2156236791598608/ctx/20260621_gravel/cms/CAP
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Stage 3 - Granollers to Les Angles
Mountain Stage
