Stage win in Spain the highlight of Miller's weekend
Mountain biking
The Namibian has already fought his way into the top-five of the Gravel Earth Series.
Namibian mountain bike champion Alex Miller has settled in nicely at Swatt Club Racing Team, which he joined at the end of last year.
The 24-year-old two-time Olympian has spent much of the first part of 2025 so far competing in gravel bike races in Spain, including last weekend’s Gravel Ibereólica Tierra de Campos held over three stages through Spain’s charming northwest region.
The race is included in the Gravel Earth Series, which is considered one of the two most important annual competitions in gravel bike racing in the world.
Although the Namibian won the second and longest of the three stages, some mishaps on the other two days spoiled his chances of a better finish.
Reflecting on last weekend, Miller wrote on social media: “Another gravel race done and dusted! @gravel_tierra_de_campos was in no way easier than any of the other races I’ve done. Friday was a short 19 km prologue/time-trial and unfortunately a bad mechanical put me out of contention for any general classification hopes.
“A shortened stage 2 (from the scheduled 174 km, with 1100 metres of climbing, to 116.5 km, but with a total of 1,600 metres of elevation gain) suited me like a glove, with the last few kilometres being single-track.
"Huge thanks to Jordy Bouts (his team-mate from Belgium) for playing a key part in helping me take the stage win!
“Stage 3 (on Sunday) was again shortened (due to heavy rain, from 77 km with 600 metres of climbing) to only 50 km, but that only meant the pace was even hotter. I was perfectly positioned the whole time, but unfortunately after trying to hang onto Tiago Ferreira (Portugal; Red Bull) for a bit too long, I exploded. #nuclear
“Congrats on the win, Tiago!
“Some calmer few weeks ahead, looking forward to unpack my bag a bit more properly in Girona tomorrow.”
Each race in the Gravel Earth Series circuit earns the competitors points, with the overall best score totals for the year determining the winners.
Pending an update following last weekend’s race in Spain, the series’ most recent men’s leader board was as follows:
1 Petr Vakoc (Czech Republic)
2 Tim Wollenberg (Germany)
3 Jasper Ockeloen (Netherlands)
4 Alex Miller (Namibia)
5 Paul Voss (Germany)
6 Daan Soete (Belgium)
7 Tobias Mørch Kongstad (Denmark)
The 24-year-old two-time Olympian has spent much of the first part of 2025 so far competing in gravel bike races in Spain, including last weekend’s Gravel Ibereólica Tierra de Campos held over three stages through Spain’s charming northwest region.
The race is included in the Gravel Earth Series, which is considered one of the two most important annual competitions in gravel bike racing in the world.
Although the Namibian won the second and longest of the three stages, some mishaps on the other two days spoiled his chances of a better finish.
Reflecting on last weekend, Miller wrote on social media: “Another gravel race done and dusted! @gravel_tierra_de_campos was in no way easier than any of the other races I’ve done. Friday was a short 19 km prologue/time-trial and unfortunately a bad mechanical put me out of contention for any general classification hopes.
“A shortened stage 2 (from the scheduled 174 km, with 1100 metres of climbing, to 116.5 km, but with a total of 1,600 metres of elevation gain) suited me like a glove, with the last few kilometres being single-track.
"Huge thanks to Jordy Bouts (his team-mate from Belgium) for playing a key part in helping me take the stage win!
“Stage 3 (on Sunday) was again shortened (due to heavy rain, from 77 km with 600 metres of climbing) to only 50 km, but that only meant the pace was even hotter. I was perfectly positioned the whole time, but unfortunately after trying to hang onto Tiago Ferreira (Portugal; Red Bull) for a bit too long, I exploded. #nuclear
“Congrats on the win, Tiago!
“Some calmer few weeks ahead, looking forward to unpack my bag a bit more properly in Girona tomorrow.”
Each race in the Gravel Earth Series circuit earns the competitors points, with the overall best score totals for the year determining the winners.
Pending an update following last weekend’s race in Spain, the series’ most recent men’s leader board was as follows:
1 Petr Vakoc (Czech Republic)
2 Tim Wollenberg (Germany)
3 Jasper Ockeloen (Netherlands)
4 Alex Miller (Namibia)
5 Paul Voss (Germany)
6 Daan Soete (Belgium)
7 Tobias Mørch Kongstad (Denmark)
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