Raphaël Mouton wins inaugural Gravel Beach Race that featured no gravel as the section froze and became too dangerous

Last Sunday Petten was the setting for the first Try-out Gravel Beach Race. At least, that was the KNWU's plan, but the organization of the event had to remove the gravel strip from the course due to ice formation.

About ten years ago, the beach racing discipline took off like a rocket. The growth of winter discipline has stagnated due to the rise of gravel, but the KNWU had come up with a solution for that. On December 3, Petten was to be the setting for the first Try-out Gravel Beach Race.

The KNWU wanted to experiment with a beach and gravel race in Petten. However, the weather gods had other plans: due to ice formation, the gravel strip had to be removed from the course. Due to the frost of the previous nights, the strip had become too slippery and therefore too dangerous to cycle over. The race now only took place on the beach of Petten.

The race was ultimately won by a home rider. Raphaël Mouton from Petten crossed the finish line first, ahead of his teammates Menno Don and Rick van Breda. After the race, the latter talked about the plan to combine gravel and beach. "It is becoming increasingly difficult to organize competitions due to the decrease in volunteers and permits," the Noordhollands Dagblad quotes.

"These types of criteria will therefore also have a future. The stretch on the beach is nice and wide and the gravel strip is not too difficult. It's a shame we couldn't ride that one, but it was the right decision." It is still unclear when the first Gravel Beach Race will take place.