World class cyclists take part in The Gralloch in Galloway Forest Park

Thousands of world class cyclists took on a gruelling race through the Galloway Forest Park on Saturday.

The Gralloch was back in Gatehouse for the second time, with plenty of spectators coming out to enjoy the action.

And they saw Britain’s Matthew Holmes win the men’s race with Geerike Schreurs from the Netherlands taking victory in the women’s event.

The men’s race set off first, with a breakaway pack led by Nathan Haas. Olympic gold medal winning triathlete Alastair Brownlee was among the pack before suffering a puncture, with Giles Drake taking the lead into the double track section before Loch Skerrow.

It was then into the Blackwater of Dee valley along the Raiders Road, with Petr Vakoc launching an attack on the climb up Bennan Hill. However, Freddy Ovett – who was born in Dumfries – was wise to the move and prevented the breakaway. The lead group featured Thomas Mein, Ryan Christensen, Benjamin Perry and Matthew Holmes, with Denmark’s Tobias Kongstad encountering bad luck when he dropped his chain. The rising temperatures added to the challenge, although Haas was the only rider to stop for water at the aid station.

The lead pack dropped to around 18 riders as the race entered the final 30km, and five km later Holmes made a decisive move on Vakoc to take a vital lead.

He cruised into Garries Park with a comfortable advantage of nearly 30 seconds to take the win, with Haas seeing off Vakoc for second.

Holmes said: “The Gralloch will always have a special place in my racing life, adding to my World Tour victories.

“This event was significantly harder than last weekend’s victory at the Lincoln GP, showing the level of European gravel racing.”

The women’s race was just as exciting, with Geerike