The Traka Festival review: How did the pros (and ex pros) of the road fare on the Girona gravel?
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Follow us on GoogleThe Traka festival wrapped up in Girona on Sunday. Over four days of racing, current and former road professionals mixed with European gravel royalty across the 360km, 200km and 100km distances. IDL Pro Cycling dived into the results table to bring you a round up of the most welll known names, and where they finished.
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The Traka has become the most prominent gravel event in Europe. Four distances, thousands of riders, and an increasingly star-studded pro field that draws on the WorldTour, the mountain bike circuit, and a growing pool of road-turned-gravel specialists. The 2026 edition, based in and around Girona, was the biggest yet.
Here is how the big names from the professional road world got on.
Traka 360 (Friday 1 May)
The headline distance was well attended by former road professionals. Mads Würtz Schmidt did not just win the 360 — he smashed it. The Dane, who spent 14 years racing on the road before moving full-time to gravel in 2025, went solo with 100 kilometres still to race.
His winning time of 9:57:38 was the first sub-10-hour finish in the race's history. The former road professional now holds a unique record: the first rider ever to win both the Traka 200 (2025) and the Traka 360. "That was surely a day to remember. I’m tired. Very very tired! And then i’m proud to have pulled off that race. With help from so many people," the former Israel Premier-Tech rider said on Instagram.
Romain Bardet finished fifth after a strong debut at the 360. The Frenchman, who retired from the road last summer after a career that included two Tour de France podiums and a stage win, had been in the lead group before Schmidt attacked.
He was edged out in the singletrack finale but crossed the line just over 12 minutes behind the winner. He has now won three of his first five UCI Gravel World Series races since making the switch. Lachlan Morton finished 16th, a surprising result for such an experienced gravel rider.
In the women's race, Canyon-Sram’s Rosa Klöser beat EF's Axelle Dubau-Prévot by over 12 minutes. A great result in a spring season where she also finished 31st at Paris Roubaix Femmes and in the top 50 at the Tour of Flanders.
Men's Traka 360 top results
- Mads Würtz Schmidt (Specialized Off-Road) — 9:57:38
- Hugo Drechou (Gravel Nation) — +11:18
- Matt Beers (Specialized Off-Road) — +11:30
- Benjamin Perry (Guava x Castelli S.O.G.) — +12:08
- Romain Bardet (Factor Racing) — +12:15
Women's Traka 360 top results
- Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM Zondacrypto) — 11:27:58
- Axelle Dubau-Prévot (EF Education-Oatly) — +12:53
- Geerike Schreurs (Specialized Off-Road) — +18:29
Traka 200 (Saturday 2 May)
The 200 produced the weekend's most compelling road-to-gravel story. A Giro stage winner took the biggest gravel prize in Europe.
Lukas Pöstlberger (Rose Racing Circle) won the men's race by 20 seconds in a tense finale. The Austrian former WorldTour pro won a stage at the 2017 Giro d'Italia.
Other big names to finish well in the 200 were Nino Schurter, Olympic and 16 time World Mountain Bike Champion, who finished fifth, and a certain Mr. Alejandro Valverde, who finished 11th.
In the women's race, Sofía Gómez Villafañe (Specialized Off-Road) retained her title and topped an all gravel team podium. The Argentine, who came into the race unbeaten in 2026, went again on the final climb before the technical singletrack and opened enough of a gap to win by over a minute. She is now a back-to-back Traka 200 champion.
Men's Traka 200 top results
- Lukas Pöstlberger (Rose Racing Circle) — 6:04:42
- Bradyn Lange (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing) — +0:20
- Martin Stošek (Buff BH) — +0:20
Women's Traka 200 top results
- Sofía Gómez Villafañe (Specialized Off-Road) — 6:54:42
- Larissa Hartog (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing) — +1:09
- Nele Laing (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain Racing) — +7:51
Traka 100 (Sunday 3 May)
Matyáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) won the 100 in a sprint. The Czech had come straight off a road block that included Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, and arrived in Girona with less than a week's recovery.
He crossed the line just one second ahead of Geoffrey Soupe, who retired from professional road racing last year. Nicholas Roche — son of 1987 Tour de France winner Stephen Roche, and himself a two-time Vuelta a España stage winner who retired from the road in 2021, rounded out the top five.
While the 100 race is classed as open, the women's standings was dominated by two current road professionals. Ginia Caluori (NEXETIS) won on her gravel debut, breaking away after 40 kilometres. Behind her came Cat Ferguson (Movistar), the 19-year-old Yorkshire rider who is one of the brightest talents in the Women's WorldTour.
Ferguson, a two-time junior world champion in road and time trial who raced her first full road season in 2025, was also making her gravel debut. Both riders had the top two spots in a race where the podium went entirely to road cyclists.
Traka 100 top men's results
- Matyáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) — 3:01:09
- Geoffrey Soupe (retired from road 2025) — +0:01
- Eduardo Talavera Fernandez — +0:03
Traka 100 top women's results
- Ginia Caluori (NEXETIS) — 3:11:00
- Cat Ferguson (Movistar) — +4:16
- Sofia Rodriguez Revert (Nesta)
David Bavin-HobbsChief Editor
David has been working in the sports & cycling industry for 16 years. Covering racing, business and technology, he has worked in communications for cycling companies, teams, and as a journalist. His proudest achievement is winning the first bike race he ever entered. He hasn't won a race since.
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