Whether it's motors or pedals, Aleix Espargaro goes fast, very fast. And with the Lidl Trek jersey, the Portuguese rider - who continues to be a protagonist in the world of motors as a Honda test rider - made his debut in gravel by participating on Saturday in the UCI Gravel World Series 114 Race held at the border between Portugal and Spain.

Espargaro did not disappoint his team or his fans, securing an unexpected seventh place overall and qualifying for the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships.

"It was my debut in gravel and it was really fun! Despite having little technique for off-road events and having only ridden my Trek Checkmate the day before the race, I had a lot of fun during the race and had the legs to finish seventh overall in my first World Cup and qualify for the Gravel World Championship," the thirty-six-year-old Spaniard wrote on Instagram.

The race - 123 kilometers long from Elvas, Portugal, to Badajoz, Spain - was won by thirty-one-year-old British rider Matthew Holmes, who preceded Spanish riders José Maria Sanchez Rui and Enrique Morcillo Vergara, the latter a mountain bike specialist.

The women's race saw the victory of Spanish rider Lucia Gonzalez Blanco, who beat British rider Annabel Fisher, with Greek rider Varvara Faso completing the podium.

Photo taken from Aleix Espargaro's Instagram profile