Tibco-SVB teammates Brodie Chapman and Lauren Stephens dominated the SBT GRVL, placing first and second, respectively, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on Sunday. The two riders covered the 225.6km route, which included 2,743 metres of climbing, in under seven hours. They will both be racing in the upcoming Colorado Classic, held from August 22-25. "The SBT GRVL Race was an awesome opportunity," Chapman said. "It's really cool that we as professional road cyclists get to mix up our programme with something as challenging and different as gravel racing. "This was my first 'official' gravel race, and I'll admit I was a bit apprehensive about what to expect out of myself, at altitude, coming from a block of European racing – not to mention the stacked and experienced gravel field here in the USA."ADVERTISEMENT Chapman won the Gravel and Tar La Femme in January in Australia and then joined Tibco-SVB for the start of her season at the Herald Sun Tour, where she was third overall. After a spring Classics campaign, she travelled to the US and won the Tour of the Gila and was sixth overall at the Tour of California. She returned to Europe for a series of UCI stage races that culminated with the Women's Tour of Scotland earlier this month. Chapman and Stephens are also in the US to compete at the upcoming Colorado Classic held from August 22-25. The event also starts in Steamboat Springs, and so adding the gravel event to their programme made sense logistically. "I like long races, and I like gravel, so I was really looking forward to seeing how it would play out," said Chapman, who described what happened in the race.
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