Magnus Bak wins Gravel Earth Series

Ranxo Gravel in Catalonia, the final round of the Gravel Earth Series, took place on the last Sunday of September. Factor athlete on the PAS Racing Team, Magnus Bak, had already won three events in the prestigious series, and if he took a top-6 in the Spanish event, he would win the series overall. It was a hot, dusty, challenging race. Magnus and one other competitor spent most of the race off the front, battling the elements more than each other. By the finish line, Magnus came away with second place on the day and the overall win in the Gravel Earth Series.

“I had already won three of the events, and the four best results count for the overall, and I’m here to try to get the win in the Gravel Earth Series,” Magnus said. “I was feeling good in the beginning, but then the race got to me, and also the heat was hard for me, so I was struggling at the end, so I am super happy to finish second and secure my overall victory in the Series.”

Having already taken victories at Santa Vall, The Rift, and Megre, Magnus was in pole position to take the overall, but success was far from inevitable since Catalonia’s gravel tracks are notoriously fickle and ready to puncture dreams.

LDC wins in Trinidad

On the other side of the Atlantic, Factor’s Lauren De Crescenzo took her fourth victory in succession at The Rad gravel race in southern Colorado. Having won the 2025 edition by 30 minutes over her nearest competitor, Lauren obviously feels very at home on the Colorado course after relocating to Boulder from Atlanta. With 9000 feet of elevation gain in 110 miles (2700 m in 177 km), The Rad is truly a test for climbing experts, which Lauren has proved herself to be time and again.

“I’ve won the race four years in a row now. the town of trinidad is such an interesting, quirky town. it has some new mexico vibes because it is right on the southern border of colorado. it is really eclectic because downtown is pretty cool and the terrain is great for racing. it was a lot rougher this year. i think they have had some heavy rain. the paths were rutted out with a washboard effect,” lauren said.

“A lot of climbing, which is why I do so well. The whole first half is basically uphill, and then the back half is down, but you are always pedalling on the course. There is no section where you are just cruising. You are always making power, which really suits my style of racing. It’s just tempo for six hours. I always do well with a hard tempo and climbing, the longer the better.”

Growth of Gravel

In just a few short years, elite gravel racing has gone from having a few events peppered across the summer to having so many events around the world that it would be impossible to race them all. The mix of openness, inclusivity, adventure and course beauty has drawn athletes from the top ranks of professional road, mountain bike and cyclocross as well as ambitious amateurs to race these often challenging and even brutal events.

Factor Bikes proudly supports a strong group of athletes competing at the highest level on a wide range of gravel events across the biggest racing series, such as the Gravel Earth Series, UCI Gravel World Series, and the Life Time Grand Prix.

In addition to Magnus Bak and Lauren De Crescenzo taking part in a wide selection of these races, we have Rob Britton, Matt Holmes, Jonas Lindberg, Team Amani members like Xaverine Nirere, Jordan Schleck, and Tsgabu Grmay, as well as South African gravel champion Haley Preen and Anton Stensby of Team Coop-Repsol.

Gravel racing series

With the eruption of gravel events around the world, various major events have joined together under umbrella series names to enhance professionalism and increase the profile of each individual event.

Though individual gravel events have been attracting athletes for many years, the UCI Gravel World Series and the US-based Life Time Grand Prix started more recently in 2022, with the Gravel Earth Series first establishing itself in 2023. They essentially have become the umbrella series that have incorporated a growing number of gravel events around the world. Understanding the differences in the various series has become more complicated as more events join the calendar.

Though the Life Time Grand Prix only started in 2022, its marquee event, Unbound, was first held in 2006. The LTGP was established in the United States as a way to pool prize money and attract the strongest racers to attend the biggest events as a way to grow and professionalise the sport. It also promotes gender equality, offering equal prize money and an equal number of spots for men and women participants. Though the six events under the LFGP umbrella are a mix of three gravel races and three mountain bike races, participants need to compete in at least five of the six races to qualify for the prize purse at the end of the series. The riders score points in each of the events, which are then tallied up and ranked after all six races.

The UCI Gravel World Series started in 2022 in conjunction with the first UCI Gravel World Championships. It also curated a series of events that would be used as qualifying races for athletes who wanted to participate in the World Championships, held for the first two years in the Veneto in northern Italy, followed by Leuven, Belgium, in 2024, and will take place in Limburg, Netherlands, in October 2025. Initially, the UCI Gravel World Series included only 11 events, but for 2025, 33 events highlight the series.

Coming to the party a year later, the Gravel Earth Series has quickly become a focal international series, attracting elite riders to compete in the huge variety of events. Races from Europe, North America, Africa, and South America feature in the series. With upwards of 30 events covered, including both one-day and stage races, riders are allowed to pick and choose in which events they participate.

Rider’s overall place is calculated using their top four results. Certain events, like Traka 360, Migration Gravel Race, and Ranxo Gravel, are more heavily weighted in the scoring. And if riders want to be considered for overall victory in the series, they must participate in the Ranxo Gravel in Spain, which is the series finale.

Factor’s gravel athletes

Magnus Bak

In addition to his three wins and overall victory in the Gravel Earth Series, Magnus also won the Danish National Gravel Championships and the Wörthersee Gravel Race in Austria this past April. He took an excellent 8th at the Traka and 6th in the Gravel Weekend in Latvia in August. He also took 2nd at the UCI Gravel World Series event at Blaavands Huk.

Rob Britton

Having removed himself from competing in the Life Time Grand Prix so that he could pursue a wider variety of events, Rob Britton succeeded in taking what was probably the biggest victory of his career when he won the Unbound XL gravel race ahead of Lachlan Morton, the 2024 winner of Unbound 200.

He then went on to take 3rd overall at the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder and tackled the BC Bike Race the very next day. “With the combination of BC Bike race on the heels of the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder, it made for 12 straight days of racing in two very different places on very different terrains and bikes! I will say that the transition between gravel racing and mountain bikes is certainly no joke. I’m not an exceptional mountain biker at the best of times, and any weaknesses I had in driving the bike were exploited tenfold the first few days while my brain was trying to recover from the previous week,” Rob said after the two events.

“Looking back at some historical Strava files from 2023 BCBR stages, I was riding the climb segments as fast, if not faster, this year than I was then, which I thought was pretty rad. Though the lack of hours spent on the mountain bike this year definitely undid any decent gains on the climbs!”

In August, he then took on his biggest challenge to date. He rode 2400 km in nine days from his current home in Victoria, Vancouver, to his childhood home in Regina, Saskatchewan. Riding a Factor prototype, he made it with no mechanicals. Even if his materials were never pushed to their limit, Rob certainly was, and proved once again that he must be the preeminent endurance cyclist.

Matt Holmes

Mixing road racing and gravel for most of the 2025 season, Matt Holmes has taken several top spots in events, including a victory at the 114 Gravel Racing in Spain, 3rd at the British Gravel Championships and 5th at the Glorious Gravel race in Wales.

He came close to defending his 2024 victory at The Gralloch gravel race, taking 2nd for 2025. He has booked his place in the UCI Gravel World Championships in the middle of October on a route that should suit his skillset.

There is no question that he has found some good form, since he took an imperious victory on the road at the Witheridge Grand Prix, powering to a solo victory in the Lloyds National Road Series in late July.

Jonas Lindberg

Though his season has been plagued by illness and injury, Jonas Lindberg has still put together a number of strong race days, including a recent victory at the Danish Gravel Series race in early September while racing on the newly released Factor ALUTO.

Pneumonia took him out of The Rift, even though he travelled to Iceland and took part in the Factor photoshoot for the ALUTO. “I went on holiday before and was a little sick, but still decided to travel to Iceland to do the Rift. Unfortunately, my condition worsened during the trip, and I had to make the tough call to pull out. I was really disappointed to miss the race — and honestly just sad that things haven’t gone my way lately,” he said.

He is also planning to race the UCI Gravel Worlds in Limburg this October. Having taken 12th last year, hopes are high that he will feel fit and healthy for the 2025 edition.

Lauren De Crescenzo

In addition to her victory at The Rad this past weekend, Lauren also won the Old Man Winter Rally Gravel race in Lyons in early February and then the Home Grown Gravel Adventure in Atlanta in late February. She took an excellent 2nd at SBT GRVL, 3rd Gravel Nationals, and 9th at the Lauf Gravel Worlds. With 6th place at Unbound and 8th at Chequamegon, LDC is currently in 8th place in the Life Time Grand Prix standings with two more events still to come.

Haley Preen

Racing on Factor for Team Honeycomb, Haley Preen is also competing in the Life Time Grand Prix, currently sitting in 7th overall. As the 2025 South African National Gravel Champion, Haley is proud to wear the South African flag on her jersey while competing not only in the LTGP, but also UCI World Series events, like the Khomas100 Gravel Race, which was also the first African Continental Gravel Championships, that she won in August.

Though she broke her collarbone in a crash in the spring, she still had a successful early half of the season, taking 3rd at Cape Epic and 4th at Sea Otter. All commitment now to finishing off strongly in the remaining two LTGP events.

Anton Stensby of Team Coop-Repsol

Though his season is largely focused on the Team Coop-Repsol’s road calendar, Anton has still had the legs to take some big results in gravel. Having gotten his gravel legs primed with two 2nd places in stages and a 2nd place overall at the Gravel, Grit ‘n Grind stage race in August, he impressed everyone with his 2nd place at the European Gravel Championships, which took place in Italy in mid-September.

He will be aiming to improve on that place this October at the UCI Gravel Worlds.

Team Amani

With an enhanced race calendar this year, Team Amani riders have been active on all fronts. Xaverine Nirere, in particular, has been racing road and gravel extensively. She had a super strong showing at the Tour de Windhoek road stage race in Namibia, where she won several stages and the overall. She is also the Rwandan National Time Trial Champion and took 3rd place in the road race.

On the gravel side, she has been competing in the Gravel Earth Series and sits in 16th place overall after taking 2nd at Tierra De Campos and 2nd overall at Migration Gravel Race in addition to a stage win.

In February, she won the Safari Gravel Race Series Tatu City Edition for the second consecutive year. And her Amani teammate, Mary Aleper, took 2nd place.

Team Amani’s Jordan Schleck has had a strong season, taking 3rd at the Migration Gravel Race and winning the Loop Safari Gravel Race in Vipingo, as part of the Safari Race Series. Teammate Lawrence Lorot took 2nd in the event.

Earlier in the season, Jordan also won the Loop Safari Race Series in Machakos as well as the Loop Safari Race Series in Tatu City.

In addition to his role as mentor and Sports Director for the Team Amani Continental cycling team, Tsgabu Grmay has been learning the ways of off-road racing. He took an excellent 4th place at the Migration Gravel Race after tackling the 4 Islands Epic mountain bike race in April.

Though much of the season has flown past, there are still several important events for our riders. We’re proud of the role Factor has played in their achievements and are excited for future successes together.

Learn more about the OSTRO Gravel

Learn more about the ALUTO