Traka: Europe's biggest and wildest gravel race!
- Ben Thomas
- May 6
- 9 min read
Updated: May 8
The Traka has quickly become the biggest and most important gravel race in Europe, it's the race to win, have a good result here and it'll define your race season. I'm in year three of racing gravel but for one reason or another I'd not yet taken on this amazing event, finally this week with my Ribble Outliers teammates we lined up to race the Traka.
The entry list for all four events across the week is like a who’s who of top gravel riders from around the world, and with events ranging from a 560km epic to the 100km sprint, there’s a distance to suit every rider.
So, with the weather pendulum swinging in the hot direction, The Ribble Outliers joined forces in full to tackle the hot dusty trails, savage climbs, and technical single-track descents.
From our base near sleepy Cassa de la Selva to the south of Girona, pre-race training takes place around the course that passes our doorstep, on parcours littered with tough ascents, rocky trails, and water crossings.
Girona, or to be more precise, the local council, has created an extensive gravel network through the region, making the hills as accessible as the famous roads. It’s this network that makes the Traka such a great spectacle, allowing for epic distances to be covered without repeating or looping.
This year, the Ribble Outliers are represented in 2 distances - the 360 on Friday by Metheven, and in the 200 on Saturday by Sophie, Hayley, Ben, Harry and Jenson.
The above quote comes from Ribble's coverage of the event, added here for extra context.
4.30 am Saturday the alarm clocks ring, five bleary eyed cyclists appear for breakfast. After coffee, oats and Precision electrolytes the energy levels lift. We put on our kit and head for the van. We're inspired by this race and by the performance of our teammate Metheven who raced the 360 on Friday. We get dropped off a 10 minutes ride out of town so we can do a little warm up before needing to be on the start line for 6.30. I'm gridded 3rd row thanks to my performance in the Gravel Earth Series last year, I look around and I'm ahead of some big hitters, beating my 24 number board is going to be tough.
After pre riding all but the flat bit of the course earlier in the week I knew what a challenge just completing the race would be, that was before even considering the level of competition. The course, in so many places uphill and downhill, is more mountain bike than gravel. Steep steep ups, sometimes technical, then steep downs with huge rain water ruts, singletrack, hairpin turns, fast speeds, etc. So many people would crash or have mechanical issues on race day because of the demanding terrain.
The atmosphere at a Klassmark event is outdone by very few others, here now on the start line the noise is deafening but as you focus on the race ahead you drown out the noise. Your attention turns to the 200 kilometres of racing ahead, you visualize the critical points on the course, you know the next 6.5 hours is going to be torture as you hold your limits. One minute to go, 30 seconds to go. Bang, we are underway.
There's 10 minutes of neutralised riding out of town behind the lead cars, designed to keep us safe until we get onto the first climb. This neutral start is all part of the battle though, it's 10 minutes of skidding, elbow barging, riders overtaking on the pavement, dive bombing on the corners. I am too far back by the end of the neutral section so have work to do on the first climb. I grit my teeth realising that the race is lost on these first three hills, if you're not in a decent group by the end of the first 50 kilometres you aren't winning anything.
By the top of the first climb gaps are already opening and I end up in group two with a big lead group just ahead including teammate Jenson. I don't go over the limit to close the gap but I ride close to the limit on the next two climbs and use my mountain bike skills and wide tyres to make up positions on the descents. I’m riding a Schwalbe Rick XC 2.25” front tyre at 18 psi and G One Pro RX 50mm rear tyre at 22 psi! I'm working hard the whole way but on the downhills I'm able to have fun, this is a nice feeling to have mid race. We crest the top of the last climb and speed down the descent. We catch Jenson who's having some mechanical issues.
Onto the flat where I'd hoped that the pace would be easier and we could recover, power output on the flat is not my strength so I find myself working harder than expected just to stay in contact with the group. A few riders in the group are determined to catch the lead group who are still just ahead. I try to limit the work I'm doing by missing turns on the front, I need some easier kilometres or I’m not going to make it all the way to the finish, we aren't even a third of the way through the race yet. There's little time to regroup but Jenson and I can have some words, see how we are each feeling and make a plan for the next part of the race. Shortly after I can see Jenson's front wheel is going flat, I ask him if he wants my wheel, i'm suffering at this point, he looks to be cruising. He declines which was the right call as he soon realised he also has a rear puncture, the cassette on my rear wheel wouldn't have worked on his bike.
Even more crushing was that a few kilometres later our group catches the lead group, it would have been amazing to have had two of us there. With the speeds being so high on the flat it's highly unlikely Jenson or anyone else will be able to catch this lead group. This train is rolling fast, the pace is insane. It's like we are doing an hour long crit race or mountain bike cross country race. Every corner is a full on attack at 700 or 800 watts, I'm sat on the wheels but it's impossible to recover, we're just pushing hard on the pedals constantly. I can feel I'm still on the limit here on the flat, eventually I get dropped, a few metres gap opens, I think I'm done for but then we reach a small climb and the pace is manageable enough for me to catch back on.
I make it to the one and only feed zone where we get support from the team, this is 119 kilometres into the race. This is about 3 hours 45 into the race, I've already drunk 2.5 litres from 3 bottles and had 3 energy gels. I grab another two big one litre bottles whilst shouting to the team that they need to get a wheel ready for Jenson. I realise I'm in trouble with how empty I'm feeling, I know the biggest climb of the race is just ahead.
I've stayed with the lead group till the 130 kilometre mark and now the check engine light was glowing! As soon as this next climb begins the group accelerates and I get dropped, I'm on my own and I can barely manage zone 2 endurance power. Soon I’m looking behind me expecting to get caught rather than looking ahead to see who I can catch. This climb is 27 minutes of misery, I'm seeing stars, it's the hottest part of the day with temperatures hitting 22 degrees centigrade, there's no shade, we are in clear sunlight. You cannot find a rhythm and are constantly changing gear because the gradient is always changing, you are bumping over huge rocky slabs, negotiating around turns and ruts, it's relentless. I start consuming Precision gels and chews every 15 minutes to put some fuel back in the tank, I go from completely empty to just having a low fuel warning light! ️
Getting dropped by the leaders early on the climb might actually have been a good thing as I was able to set my own pace rather than completely popping half way up the hill. Somehow near the top I started to see a group of about 5 ahead. I was travelling faster than them and inch by inch I get back onto their wheel and could recover a bit on the descent. All the energy products I ate on the way up the climb are starting to kick in and I'm able to refocus on what's coming up. Focus is what's needed as the next two downhills are really rough with huge ruts which can just eat you up. Put your wheel in the wrong place and you'll get smashed into a million pieces!
We are on familiar ground by now, I’ve pre ridden this part of the route a few times so I knew it well and could save some energy. We get to three quarters distance and we've completed the biggest climbs, the undulating bike path we now speed along is much better suited to my strengths. I'm still suffering as we race past our accommodation, a quick right turn and I could be jumping into our icy cold swimming pool in less than a minute. The opportunity passes and our group swells to around 10 people before shrinking again as riders get dropped from the attrition. The whole route is so much fun to ride, it's a shame I was suffering so much in the race but here at around hour 5 I feel a little more in control and not completely over my limit.
We negotiate several river crossings without any issues, the water is refreshing in the heat of the day. We begin the penultimate climb, I'm in a very select group now with some huge names including Greg Van Avermaet and Alban Lakata. I know if I can stay on their wheel I'm on a fast train to the finish. I'm fifth wheel approaching the top of the climb but suffer enough to stay with them and can recover down the descent. Last climb coming but it's a complete brute, engage the easiest gear and grovel to the top, every bit of energy needed. Down the descent and there's just 13 minutes left to the line.
I position myself well as we approach the final singletrack and am second wheel, we reach the final river crossing and I'm the only rider to stay on the bike, the others are off and running! Without trying a gap opens between me and the riders who failed to ride the river crossing. Instead of pushing hard on the pedals to keep the gap I keep it steady and safe, there are some big rocks on the singletrack, if I force the pace there's a big chance of puncturing or worse. By the end of the singletrack we are all together and sweep up Georg Egger who looks to have completely blown after leading the race early on.
We speed past the coffee factory and we can hear the commentary booming loud from the arena. The finish line comes into sight, it's a bit of a blur as the effort has again ramped up and up in the last few minutes. We are 200 kilometres, 6 hours 25, 6000 kilojoules into this race and now we are sprinting for the line with everything we have left. I grit the teeth once more and push every watt I have left to cross the line. I got outsprinted by an Olympic champion but I'm sure I've outsprinted a world MTB champion. The results say otherwise about beating the MTB champion, we'll check the photos! Even so, I just sprinted with an Olympic champion and a world champion! The level in gravel is insane right now!
The Traka was one of the hardest races I've ever done! Full gas up the climbs to begin, full gas on the long flat section in the middle, then full gas up the climbs at the end. 6.5 hours on the limit.
I'm wrecked and collapse onto the floor just beyond the finish line, unable to do anything for several minutes except crawl towards some shade by the barriers. I said in a Q&A earlier in the year that I was determined to give every race with the team 100% effort, I crossed the line at Traka with nothing left! Several ice cold drinks later and I'm able to sit up and mutter some words.
I finished 22nd, a number which doesn't truly show the quality of the result. My teammates also have great races with Jenson recovering to 38th just 12 minutes behind me despite all the mechanical issues, and Sophie finishing an amazing 10th place in a hugely competitive ladies race.
Traka 200 completed, 360 next year?
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