Gravel World Champion John Borstelmann kicked elite men's Colin Strickland off the line, both finishing in a time of 7 hours, 4 minutes, and 37 seconds, with Chase Work in third place by 14 seconds.

Strickland was out of the top 20 at the 60-mile checkpoint, but entered the fray at the second checkpoint at mile 120. As they entered the pavement to the finish line, Borstelmann pushed even harder to avoid being passed by Strickland.

"I won the Gravel Worlds today after a hard fought battle with Colin Strickland that went down to a two-up sprint," Borstelmann said on his Instagram after the race.

Lauren De Crescenzo won the women's title in 7:36:53, just over 13 minutes ahead of Sami Runnels, with Lindsey Stevenson in third.

The top three women's finishers passed the two time checks on the course in the same order. De Crescenzo, who is in great form on gravel this season after winning the Unbound Gravel 200 and SBT GRVL, also took the best climber award. Best climber for the men was Walk.

Now in its 11th year, Gravel World offers multiple routes that start at the Hub in Lincoln, Nebraska, and cover 150 miles with over 11,000 feet of elevation gain. The Privateer 75 and Buccaneer (50km) non-championship events have also returned, and this year a new 300-mile "Long Voyage" challenge has been added, starting Friday, August 20.

Leading the 75-mile race was Lauren Stephens (TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank), who finished in 3 hours, 55 minutes, and 55 seconds, three seconds ahead of men's winner Ross Weinziel. Stephens chose a shorter route to prepare for the upcoming Joe Martin stage race.

Zeno Molteni was the first rider to complete the 300 miles, finishing in 20 hours, 48 minutes, and 15 seconds.