Neefies and Toon Aerts fastest at UCI Gravel Limburg in the Netherlands

Gravel Fondo Limburg is a new gravel race within the UCI Gravel World Series in the most beautiful cycling area of the Netherlands: South Limburg.

Characterized by rolling hills, single track, lose soil and beautiful unpaved roads. The course was a mixture of Gravel sections with shorter paved sections in the middle of the beautiful Limburg landscape.

The course started from the Shimano Experience center in the center of Valkenburg for a tough and challenging climb up the famous Cauberg which was done on the road towards the local lap.

The local lap was a 34km course which was done two times for masters and 3 times for younger age groups as the qualifying distance for the UCI Gravel World Championships.

After the 2 or 3 laps, a 6km finish loop brought riders back to the center of Valkenburg where the finish was again at the Shimano Experience center.

The total distance of the full course wass either 113km for the Gran Fondo and 79 km for the Medio Fondo.

In the Gran Fondo, Belgian cyclist Toon Aerts took 1st place in the elite men’s race, with Dutch cyclists Piotr Havik in 2nd and Adne Koster in 3rd.

Dutch cyclist Tessa Neefjes took 1st place in the elite women’s race, with Swiss cyclist Irina Lützelschwab in 2nd and Dutch cyclist Wendy Oosterwoud in 3rd.

Riders finishing in the top 25% in their age and gender category have automatically qualified to participate in the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships taking place in Belgium.

Link to 2024 UCI Gravel Limburg Results: https://www.acn-timing.com/?lng=EN#/events/2158448699595024/ctx/20240428_gravel/cms/120km