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Pro Bike Check: CLIF Pro Team’s Sofia Gomez Villafane & Russell Finsterwald

sofia gomez villafane pro bike check
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The CLIF Pro Team has had quite a year, and nabbed two podiums at the inaugural Belgian Waffle Ride North Carolina. Sofia Gomez Villafane, who raced to 23rd at the XC Olympic Race, went on to get 9th at SBT GRVL the weekend before, then took the top spot against an incredibly strong field (with more Olympians!) of women at BWR…while on a borrowed bike!

Meanwhile, teammate Russell Finsterwald took 6th at SBT, then moved up a spot to 5th at the BWR. They’re sponsored by Specialized, Easton, and Stan’s NOTUBES, too. Oh, and technically, they’re a mountain bike team, and Sofia doesn’t even have her own “team” gravel bike. Here’s a look at their race bikes…

Sofia’s borrowed race bike

closeup details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for sofia gomez villafane
The giant Sierra Nevada Pale Ale was one of the prizes, along with a nice fat check.

closeup details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for sofia gomez villafane

Borrowed from Katerina Nash, the only change to the bike was a longer Niner RDO carbon seatpost since Sofia’s a bit taller…Nash rides a 49, the smallest Diverge frame size offered. Otherwise, it worked out quite well with her teammate’s build.

cockpit details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for sofia gomez villafane

The cockpit setup is a carbon Easton stem with their lightest (195g claimed) EC90 SLX carbon road bike handlebar. It’s wrapped in ESI bar tape, with a K-Edge computer mount up front.

drivetrain of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for sofia gomez villafane

Her drivetrain is a 50/34 Dura-Ace crankset with 165mm arms paired with an 11-speed XT 11-40 cassette. GRX Di2 derailleurs and shifters move things through the gears. Like most every pro (and many age groupers), road pedals were far more common than MTB pedals for this event.

A Stages Powermeter provided the wattage data.

wheels and tires of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for sofia gomez villafane

Sofia brought her own wheels, though… Stan’s GRAIL CB7 carbon gravel wheels with Maxxis Velocita AR 700×40 tires.

closeup details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for sofia gomez villafane
A Specialized Mimic saddle finished off the build.

The numbers on her top tube were the mile markers for the aid stations…which she didn’t use. Sofia told us she raced straight through without stopping, made possible with two bottles on the bike plus a hydration pack. Her finish time was 5h 17m 11.70s…almost exactly two hours faster than yours truly.

Russell Finsterwald’s gravel race bike

russell finsterwald pro bike check

Russell’s bike is a size 56 Diverge but with different parts selections from their sponsors’ parts bins.

The seatpost is a Specialized post that looks kinda like their Roval Terra flex seatpost, but possibly with a bit different shaping at the top. It caught our eye in the pits, but was quite muddy…and unfortunately our pics didn’t reveal anything special, so it could just be the shadows. Maybe.

drivetrain details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for russell finsterwald

Where Sofia had road parts on the front and an MTB cassette out back, Russell flipped it around.

drivetrain details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for russell finsterwald

He’s running a 48/31 GRX crankset…

drivetrain details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for russell finsterwald

…with a Dura-Ace 11-30 road cassette. Shifters and derailleurs are GRX Di2.

cockpit details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for russell finsterwald

He’s running the same EC90 SLX bar, but with an EA90 SL alloy stem.

closeup details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for russell finsterwald

Based on his 4h 46m 7.76s finish time, I’m guessing he didn’t stop either, but he added the mile markers for the major climbs and breakaway points on his top tube cue sheet.

cockpit details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for russell finsterwald

Saddle is the Specialized Phenom S-Works with carbon rails, and bar tape is also ESI with a K-Edge mount off the front.

wheel and tire details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for russell finsterwald

He’s got the same Maxxis Velocita AR 700×40 tires…

wheel and tire details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for russell finsterwald

…but they’re on Stan’s deeper profile Avion carbon wheels. These are still rated for gravel and cyclocross, too, and have a wide 22.3mm internal width and 40.6mm depth and are designed to absorb impacts well to keep you rolling fast.

Unfortunately, these wheels have been discontinued. According to our source at Stan’s, they say the molds “met an untimely end, and retooling during COVID hasn’t been easy.” So, for now, the Avion wheels are gone from the lineup.

closeup details of CLIF Pro Team gravel race bike for russell finsterwald

Inside his SWAT compartment is the usual tube, tool, etc., plus a Stan’s DART tubeless tire plug kit.

Stay tuned for more Pro Bike Checks from BWR and SBT!

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