Heat, Climbs &
a Whole Load of Dust.

Tom Couzens takes on TRAKA 100.

Words by Tom Couzens

The Traka. Undoubtably the biggest gravel race in Europe.

Girona has always been a haven for cyclists from all around the world, and the Traka takes full advantage of that, hosting one of, if not the best gravel race in the world. 3 years ago I experienced the thrill of it for the first time, conquering the 360km event and since then I've been hooked. In 2024 I returned to take on the 100km race (more my distance!) and came away with a podium spot. Hungry for more, I returned again this year to battle it out in attempt to podium once again in the 100km distance.

If you’ve ridden gravel in Girona before then you know it is a gravel cyclists paradise, beautiful scenery, tough climbs and the most gorgeous, fast rolling gravel you will ever ride. With that in mind I flew out to Spain a few days before the big event to dial in my equipment and scout the course, something which would become invaluable come race day. Over the course of the Traka week there are many events, from a 550km distance to the 100 and everything in between and the atmosphere and energy in the town is something to behold. Seeing how well everyone is doing always provides the perfect motivation and so I was super looking forward to race day.

Dry, dusty trials were what I was greeted to on my course recon the day before but on the morning of the race as I was tucking into my overnight oats I peered through the shutters to be greeted by rain. I thought I had come to Spain to escape the rain but no, in fact that same day it was full sun and 20 degrees back in the UK. Secretly I didn’t mind and in fact thought this would play to my advantage since being from the UK we get our fair share of rainy days.

The course itself was a tough one, with roughly 1400m of elevation in 100km, the majority of this coming in the first 30km meant positioning was going to be key, especially since the neutralised zone ended at the bottom of the first climb of the day. With over a thousand riders it was one of the sketchier neutralised zones I’ve done but I safely got to the bottom of the first climb ready to tackle the days racing. A few riders wasted no time in putting the power down and within just minutes the race was split to pieces. I knew I had to dig deep and could afford to burn quite a few matches in order to stay in the front group and I did exactly that. Cresting the first part of the first climb I was just about holding on to the front group but as we hit the second, even steeper section one bike length turned to two which then turned to three and before I knew it I was by myself.

By this point the rain was coming down unbelievably hard and the what were fast gravel tracks were now rivers. I was hoping my cyclocross skills would help me catch back on to the front group on the descent but I was struggling to even be able to see the course. From here my mindset had to be shifted, with steep drops off of the side of some extremely tight corners I knew it would be all over if I over cooked one. With this in mind I focused on just getting down safely and would push on come the second climb which was just as relentless as the first climb of the day.

As I tackled the steeper, initial slopes of the climb I had already started to pick off some of the stragglers from the front group who had been dropped on the descent so things were looking promising. I knew again I could afford to go deep to try close the gap because the next 50km were flat and so would provide me the opportunity to recover in the wheels. I did in fact go hard, but not quite hard enough it turns out as I never managed to see the front group of 5 again. Knowing the flatter section of the course would favour a big group I made the decision to wait for the second group which was made up of still around 30 riders or so at this point.

For the next 50km we worked well as a group and I tried my best to recover from my earlier efforts by fuelling correctly. With 25km to go the climbs would start again, although this time rather than being 6km long they averaged around 1,000m in length but were steep. I didn’t quite anticipate they were going to be just so steep until we turned the corner and were faced with what can only be described as a wall. Alistair Brownlee saw this as the perfect opportunity to attack and I managed to follow along with 2 others. I knew this was it, all or nothing and so did everything I could to hold the wheel as from here it was pretty much all downhill. The rain was still coming down making for another extremely technical descent and sadly Alistair came down, leaving just the three of us.

Knowing there was a big group behind we all fully committed and never looked back. There was one final sting in the tail, a 1.5km, again extremely steep climb which one of the riders I was with used to his advantage to jump off the front and hold on until the finish. Myself I managed to distance the one other rider in the final kilometre to roll across the line in 7th position. Not quite matching last year’s 3rd place but another top 10 finish is something I have to be extremely happy about.

It’s race days like this when the conditions are really against you that provide the perfect testimony to the products and set up you’re running. From the correct gear ratio to tyres and of course wheels. Something lightweight for the climbs yet fast and aerodynamic for the flatter sections needs a wheel set that provides no compromises. With that in mind the Hunt 40 Limitless Gravel Aero Wheelset were my choice and in fact will be my go to for all races this year. One of the reasons I love these wheels so much is they have such a wide external width, 36mm on the front and 35mm on the rear. The reason this is so great as it means they fit a 45mm tyre perfectly and means there is no ‘overhang’ of the tyre which I’ve found to greatly reduce the likelihood of slicing a side wall. Not only this, but the wider rims also optimise aerodynamics, reducing drag and offering more predictable handling in crosswinds to create the perfect, all round wheel set.