Gravel Earth Series: New Zealand sweep of Lost and Found Gravel as Ruby Ryan and Matthew Wilson clinch victory

Ryan, on the other hand, clinched the women’s race in a two-way sprint, deciding to hop in the car and make her debut after men’s winner Wilson suggested she too, should check out the event, and then finding another compatriot out on course to share the day of racing with.

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“I rode most of the day with my fellow kiwi Samara Sheppard, who finished second,” said the mountain biker from New Zealand who is part of the Life Time Grand Prix series. “We got away at mile 66, and then we were just rotating. It was great to be with her at the end, and it came down to a sprint finish. I think that was my first sprint win, so I’m happy.”

Jennifer Tavé (SpeedBlock-Terún Pro Cycling) then rolled over the line about three minutes back to take third, repeating her result of 2025.

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In the men’s race, through the double-track it thinned down to a group of three – Wilson, McElveen and Taylor – but then, at the second-to-last feed zone, Taylor was left behind, and the duo of Wilson and McElveen were out the front.

“Then we just rolled turns from there until the final gravel climb,” said Wilson in a race Instagram post. “We could see Skyler starting to come up on the horizon. Over the top of that climb I attacked on the descent and got a reasonable gap down the hill and managed to hold that till the entry of the single track.

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“Once I was in the single track I was back in my home element and able to open up that gap a bit more and get out of sight and I just soloed home back down the hill.”