Minnesotans claim 100-mile men's, women's race titles in Robidoux Rendezvous (2024)

GERING — Chase Wark and Inno Zavyalov might no longer ride for the same racing team, but that doesn’t mean they have stopped working together on the course.

The two Minnesota residents broke away from the pack with about 35 miles left in the 100-mile gravel bike race Saturday morning and came across the finish in a near dead heat during the Robidoux Rendezvous.

Zavyalov, who lives in Minneapolis, completed the course in 4 hours, 29.24.8 minutes to claim the men’s title and the $5,000 first place cash award. He finished just .16 seconds ahead of Wark — a Winona, Minnesota, resident and his friend who he has competed with and against for roughly six years.

“We kept attacking, one after another, trying to weaken the field,” Zavyalov said. “Once we thought the field was splintered enough and there were just a few guys left, we hit the single-track (section of the course) hard.

“I love riding with Chase,” Zavyalov said. “We work well together, we don’t really have to talk too much. We just know what the other is thinking.”

Fellow Minnesotan Jenna Rinehart was the first women’s finisher in the 100-mile race. The Mankato resident outsprinted Lauren Stephens to win the race in 4:55.59.8.

Stephens won the USA Cycling Gravel National Championships last September, a race which also was hosted in Gering and one that Rinehart finished fifth in.

“I kind of went back-and-forth with Lauren (all race),” Rinehart said. “She dropped me early in the day and I caught after the single track. The she dropped me again on the steep part of a climb and I caught her again. It’s fun when the women’s race comes down to a sprint, because a lot of times it doesn’t happen. We get mixed in with the guys.

“It means a lot. It’s been a dream season,” Rinehart said of the win. “The first half of the race I wasn’t feeling super awesome, and in the second half I felt a lot better. We had a really strong women’s field here today.”

Wark, Zavyalov Rinehart and Stephens were among the 175 riders who competed in the longest race of the Rendezvous, which also offered races of 26, 47 and 67 miles.

The 100-mile was the most popular option, one entry ahead of the 67-mile field. Roughly 540 individuals took part in the event, which was cancelled last year because of inclement weather that hit the area the night before the scheduled race.

The conditions were optimal on Saturday by comparison with temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s during the four races.

“The weather couldn’t be better, the course is in great shape and everybody’s feeling great about that,” event director Aaron Raines said as he watched riders make their way across the finish line at the Five Rocks Amphitheater. “It’s the best I think we’ve ever had in that regard. (The field) is about what we can count on — about 500 to 600 folks every year.”

Sixteen year old Willem Plumhoff made the trek to the Panhandle from Montrose, Colorado, with his father, Jim. Both rode in the 47-mile race their first Rendezvous competition.

“I just saw (about the race) and it looked cool, so I wanted to try it,” said Plumhoff, an incoming high school junior, who rides for Donovan Racing.

His first race went pretty well in the end. He finished second in the race, less than a minute behind Grand Island’s Mark Merritt.

It sounds like it won’t be just a one-and-done event for him, however.

“I should have rode the longer course,” he lamented to Merritt at the finish.

He followed up his comment moments later.

“I definitely am next year,” he said.