2024 GRAVEL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (BE)

[Samu Cuenca]

I didn't actually expect Vos to attack, but perhaps it was smart since it led to her getting second position ahead of the sprint.

 

[Didinho]

Puck another chocolate medal.

 

[memyselfandI]

She's an experienced rider, but I found it strange that Kopecky didn't dive behind Vos wheel to get any draft, right after she went.

 

[theyoungest]

She's an experienced rider, but I found it strange that Kopecky didn't dive behind Vos wheel to get any draft, right after she went.

Kopecky actually isn't that smart of a rider, but when you're usually up against the tactically inept Vollering, it doesn't show that much

Vos is the smartest out there.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

It was a good race, but that is not a proper gravel course. Sorry, but it just isn't.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Puck another chocolate medal.

To be honest I didn't think she'd win, and a medal was probably the best she could do; beaten by riders with bigger engines - and there was nowhere for her superior skills to count.

It was more like a road race than a proper off-road Gravel race....

 

[jmdirt]

Vos is amazing! Winning a lot of races on a lot of different surfaces for a lot of years!
Congrats GOAT!

 

[awavey]

It was a good race, but that is not a proper gravel course. Sorry, but it just isn't.

It's even more stark a contrast when you see what some of the qualifier races are like.

Speaking of which how did such a large chunk of the WWT qualify for this race ?

 

[Coffeeplanter]

Fem van Empel continues to show absolutely nothing in anything that is not CX.

 

[awavey]

Kopecky actually isn't that smart of a rider, but when you're usually up against the tactically inept Vollering, it doesn't show that much

Vos is the smartest out there.

I'd also argue Kopecky ain't that experienced in gravel racing. And her main tactic is to force Demi to make all the moves first, Vos is smarter than that.

 

[Didinho]

To be honest I didn't think she'd win, and a medal was probably the best she could do; beaten by riders with bigger engines - and there was nowhere for her superior skills to count.

It was more like a road race than a proper off-road Gravel race....

I knew she would be close. She has an engine like shown in XC and XCO but I know what you mean. A course like this is also about being in good condition, and a bit of “luck” to not have a mechanical. A good race in 4th, but I hoped she could get a medal.

 

[theyoungest]

Fem van Empel continues to show absolutely nothing in anything that is not CX.

I think she's at the wrong team, everyone except Vos falters there (and Vos just does her own thing anyway). There's no reason she shouldn't at least be somewhat close to Pieterse in some of these races, after all in CX she usually beats Pieterse on power, not on technique.

 

[Barkintheeye]

To be honest I didn't think she'd win, and a medal was probably the best she could do; beaten by riders with bigger engines - and there was nowhere for her superior skills to count.

It was more like a road race than a proper off-road Gravel race....

Did you ride it? It’s way more difficult than it looks. You really always want to be at the front to avoid stones and other bad stuff but that takes power and it’s also difficult to get the lines right if you’re not careful. I was not and a stone damaged my front wheel completely. Going downhill in bunch +40 kph on a surface with large stones things happen.

I noticed that they didn’t show some of the more sketchy sections at the broadcast. I guess the MC with the camera couldn’t go there so figure what that means in terms of technical. Clearly it’s not MTB/CX difficult but it’s not a road race… at all.

 

[Barkintheeye]

I think she's at the wrong team, everyone except Vos falters there (and Vos just does her own thing anyway). There's no reason she shouldn't at least be somewhat close to Pieterse in some of these races, after all in CX she usually beats Pieterse on power, not on technique.

Didn’t she have a technical issue? Something with the back wheel?

 

[Coffeeplanter]

Didn’t she have a technical issue? Something with the back wheel?

That occurred later in the race, when she had already missed the split twice.

 

[theyoungest]

That occurred later in the race, when she had already missed the split twice.

I'm not sure that's true, at the beginning of the broadcast they showed a few flashbacks and one of them was indeed Van Empel having a problem with her back wheel. That may of course have been the reason she missed the initial split.

But she finished somewhere way back in the pack. If that's indicative of her actual current level, she won't be very good in CX either.

 

[awavey]

Did you ride it? It’s way more difficult than it looks. You really always want to be at the front to avoid stones and other bad stuff but that takes power and it’s also difficult to get the lines right if you’re not careful. I was not and a stone damaged my front wheel completely. Going downhill in bunch +40 kph on a surface with large stones things happen.

I noticed that they didn’t show some of the more sketchy sections at the broadcast. I guess the MC with the camera couldn’t go there so figure what that means in terms of technical. Clearly it’s not MTB/CX difficult but it’s not a road race… at all.

Well I rode one of the qualifier courses last year and it was insane how off road it was compared to this. I was hitting ruts so deep my pedals were grounding out, and I was on a gravel bike it wasnt just a road bike with gravel tyres, I felt i needed a MTB for it as i just couldn't ride through all the loose sand, the washerboard sections the tree roots the ruts, let alone quickly. I don't from what we saw on footage feel you needed a MTB to just get round this course, yes there were big stones you needed to pay attention to but it wasn't like I did a "gravel" sportive where there was a section entirely of discarded house bricks, to mimic a stone/rock strewn route.

And is it Blaavands with the crazy beach/sand section ? Why are the qualifiers so off road & hard off road, in comparison to every edition of these worlds we've had so far ?

And fine I give Vos kudos as she has off road skills aplenty, but there should be no way a Wiebes or Kopecky just turns up and podiums because they have power!!!

 

[theyoungest]

Marianne Vos rode with adaptable tire pressure. Kopecky said she could hear the "pshhh" of the air going out and in again, and it definitely gave Vos an advantage. At the very least a psychological advantage.

 

[theyoungest]

And fine I give Vos kudos as she has off road skills aplenty, but there should be no way a Wiebes or Kopecky just turns up and podiums because they have power!!!

Both Wiebes and Kopecky happen to have quite a few cyclocross races under their belt as well.

 

[awavey]

Both Wiebes and Kopecky happen to have quite a few cyclocross races under their belt as well.

Ok Vos was world champion at CX, how many CX races have Wiebes & Kopecky between them ? And how recently ?

All through the gravel season if there is such a thing, riders like Tiff Cromwell excel, she finished 12th at unbound,where would any of those other wwt riders finish if they took part ?

but come to the world's where a bunch of riders turn up, I still have no idea how half of them qualified for, at least Wiebes rode & won the Dutch gravel champs, she gets totally swamped by them.

 

[theyoungest]

Ok Vos was world champion at CX, how many CX races have Wiebes & Kopecky between them ? And how recently ?

All through the gravel season if there is such a thing, riders like Tiff Cromwell excel, she finished 12th at unbound,where would any of those other wwt riders finish if they took part ?

but come to the world's where a bunch of riders turn up, I still have no idea how half of them qualified for, at least Wiebes rode & won the Dutch gravel champs, she gets totally swamped by them.

Wiebes rides a few CX races every winter. She even started out in cyclocross. Kopecky came 2nd in the Belgian CX championships a few years ago.

No, it wasn't the most gravely of gravel courses, but I think that doesn't really matter in terms of the result. I don't think it would have been any different if it had been 100% gravel.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Wiebes rides a few CX races every winter. She even started out in cyclocross. Kopecky came 2nd in the Belgian CX championships a few years ago.

No, it wasn't the most gravely of gravel courses, but I think that doesn't really matter in terms of the result. I don't think it would have been any different if it had been 100% gravel.

I don't really think there is a consensus of what makes a "gravel" course. There is a wide range between "slightly too hard for a road bike" and "it's a MTB course but you have to ride dropped bars" but is one more "gravel" than the other?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Wiebes rides a few CX races every winter. She even started out in cyclocross. Kopecky came 2nd in the Belgian CX championships a few years ago.

No, it wasn't the most gravely of gravel courses, but I think that doesn't really matter in terms of the result. I don't think it would have been any different if it had been 100% gravel.

Wiebes is however not a very skilled CX rider (I've only really seen her during races when she's crashed), so I don't think it's unlikely that she could have suffered more than the likes of Vos, Kopecky and Pieterse on a different course.

 

[Barkintheeye]

Well I rode one of the qualifier courses last year and it was insane how off road it was compared to this. I was hitting ruts so deep my pedals were grounding out, and I was on a gravel bike it wasnt just a road bike with gravel tyres, I felt i needed a MTB for it as i just couldn't ride through all the loose sand, the washerboard sections the tree roots the ruts, let alone quickly. I don't from what we saw on footage feel you needed a MTB to just get round this course, yes there were big stones you needed to pay attention to but it wasn't like I did a "gravel" sportive where there was a section entirely of discarded house bricks, to mimic a stone/rock strewn route.

And is it Blaavands with the crazy beach/sand section ? Why are the qualifiers so off road & hard off road, in comparison to every edition of these worlds we've had so far ?

And fine I give Vos kudos as she has off road skills aplenty, but there should be no way a Wiebes or Kopecky just turns up and podiums because they have power!!!

Where did I say you needed an MTB for this race? It was perfectly perfect for a Gravel/CX bike with 40-45 mm tyres. Probably what most of the riders used today. Didn’t see anyone on either a road bike or a MTB.

If you are saying that the Qualifier at Blavaands Huk in Denmark was better with a mountain bike then I think the organizers f@@@@d up and that I’m not going there next year. There’s a place for MTB and there’s a place for gravel.

Ps. Ask anyone that rode this year’s version of the WC if they thought it was an easy day

 

[Wyndbrook]

Not sure if Vos raced on them, but the picture on CN shows Dugast 33mm cyclocross tubs on her bike.