Riding with the Israel national team, alongside her CANYON//SRAM Racing teammate Omer Shapira, Gafinovitz went solo to the finish line in the UCI 1.2 race.

Gafinovitz’s victory came on the back of a double podium yesterday when Omer Shapira and Gafinovitz came second and third respectively in the Scorpion’s Pass Time Trial, also in Israel.

Following the race, Gafinovitz admitted she was taken aback with her win today.

“I knew that it would be a tough course, but we had a good plan in the Israel national team,” said Gafinovitz.

“We knew that Christoforou (Cyprus) who won the time trial yesterday, would be one of the strongest climbers on this course, so we wanted to make sure we had numbers on the top of the Scorpion’s Pass climb.”

“We were able to do that, when we had three Israelis present. I followed the attack of Naima Diesner (Wheel Divas) soon after and we stayed away together until the final climb.”

Gafinovitz continued, “I didn’t know the strengths of the Diesner so I decided to not let it come down to a two-up sprint. I attacked on the final 2km climb and it worked out! I’m very happy, and still can’t believe that I won.”

Omer Shapira was fourth in today’s Tour of Arava.

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