Alfa Romeo Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas completed The Gralloch gravel cycling race in Scotland, dubbing it a “solid day out”.
The Finn took just over four hours to complete the 113km course in the hills of Galloway, starting in Gatehouse of Fleet in the country’s southwest.
The one-day event marked the first UCI Gravel World Series event to be hosted in Britain, and offered participants the chance to qualify for next year’s UCI Gravel World Championships.
Competing in the 19-34 age group, Bottas recorded a time of 4:01:53.
That proved good enough for 114th in a field of 827, just over 45 minutes slower than race winner Connor Swift – a professional cyclist who races for the Ineos Grenadier team.
Also taking part was Bottas’ partner, Tiffany Cromwell.
The South Australian won the Women’s division after completing the course in 3:57:49, almost 10 minutes faster than the second female competitor and nearly 15 minutes clear of the next-best competitor in Cromwell’s 35-39 age bracket.
Bottas took to social media following the race, posting photos of himself competing and immediately after climbing from his bike.
The Finn has become a regular competitor in bike races, taking in a criterion in Adelaide over the Formula 1 off-season.
According to Strava, the Finn has cycled more than 3600 km in 2023, spending almost 140 hours in the saddle.
His participation in The Gralloch event came following the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola.
Flooding in the region saw organisers call off the event last Wednesday, with Ferrari and the sport both donating €1 million to relief efforts.
Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda helped with the clean-up in Faenza, near where he lives, while Max Verstappen and Lando Norris hosted live streams to fundraise for the cause.
Bottas meanwhile took to social media, sharing Formula 1’s post imploring followers to donate what they could to the victims in Italy.
Solid day out 🚲
Really enjoyed challenging myself at the 113km @grallochgravel and the event in general was great 🏴
Hero @tiffanycromwell won the women’s category 🥇#VB77 @canyon_bikes @SRAMroad
📷 @ThomasMaheux pic.twitter.com/s9BK3WuT2s— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) May 20, 2023
