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It's very hard for anyone to compete with the sheer amount of high level racing WT pros do. There's just no way to simulate that, training hours and power numbers are only part of the picture. The only way to keep them away is to have a large technique and experience barrier like in most mtb and cx racing, or a pure physical specialisation element like in track sprinting.
Well I hope lessons are learned and they can tweak the course for next year; maybe if possible, add in more punchy climbs, and more technical sections....
I think as far as showcasing gravel racing as an exciting sport, they did a really poor job.
I was expecting something like a MTB or CX circuit but in a road race format, some exciting technical stuff, actual gravel bikes and gear being used, attacks, riders having technical issues and having to use their skills to repair a tire, etc. Maybe the actual US gravel racing is like that, I don't know, but this wasn't it.
What we got was just a poor man's flat one-day road race, with some Paris-Tours stuff thrown in. Actually if they used the actual today's Paris-Tours as the gravel WC race I would have been more excited. I think it will be hard for UCI to make a lasting series out of this, unless they just incorporate it into road racing.
I was expecting something like a MTB or CX circuit but in a road race format, some exciting technical stuff, actual gravel bikes and gear being used, attacks, riders having technical issues and having to use their skills to repair a tire, etc. Maybe the actual US gravel racing is like that, I don't know, but this wasn't it.
What we got was just a poor man's flat one-day road race, with some Paris-Tours stuff thrown in. Actually if they used the actual today's Paris-Tours as the gravel WC race I would have been more excited. I think it will be hard for UCI to make a lasting series out of this, unless they just incorporate it into road racing.
I didn't know what to expect in terms of road surfaces. Much to my surprise I've seen the kind of mixed terrain I use to ride in, so much that I could relate to the riders when they were switching between the grass and the stoney lanes on the paths. I'll have to change my routes for fear of being uncool.
Edit: Pogacar liked it. Is this still uncool? Will the gravel elite riders complain more if Tadej races next year?
Edit: Pogacar liked it. Is this still uncool? Will the gravel elite riders complain more if Tadej races next year?
Oh no, they got him too. The gravel got him.
Tadej Pogacar: I want to race gravel in 2023
“For sure I’d have loved to race the Gravel World Championships,” Pogacar told Cyclingnews. “Gravel racing is something fairly new, especially in Europe, and it’s the first World Championships. In the future I’d love to race for the gravel rainbow jersey.”
Pogacar travelled across northern Italy from Lombardy to the Veneto region to see the Gravel World Championships. He tirelessly signed dozens of autographs and posed for hundreds of selfies in the VIP hospitality area before seeing Vermeersch win alone in the centre of the mediaeval walled town of Cittadella.
View: https://twitter.com/Colnagoworld/status/1579155706783367169
Tadej Pogacar: I want to race gravel in 2023
“For sure I’d have loved to race the Gravel World Championships,” Pogacar told Cyclingnews. “Gravel racing is something fairly new, especially in Europe, and it’s the first World Championships. In the future I’d love to race for the gravel rainbow jersey.”
Pogacar travelled across northern Italy from Lombardy to the Veneto region to see the Gravel World Championships. He tirelessly signed dozens of autographs and posed for hundreds of selfies in the VIP hospitality area before seeing Vermeersch win alone in the centre of the mediaeval walled town of Cittadella.
View: https://twitter.com/Colnagoworld/status/1579155706783367169
Alpecin - Deceuninck continued their farming of rainbow jerseys, having currently 4 in their ranks with 2 by Sam Gaze (XC Short Track and XC Marathon), 1 by Jay Vine (e-Cycling) and 1 by Vermeersch.
Time for Fabio Van Den Bossche to do his part in the upcoming track worlds before we go to cross next year.
Time for Fabio Van Den Bossche to do his part in the upcoming track worlds before we go to cross next year.
Was I the only one getting Paris Roubaix vibes? If this is a once a year race that draws numerous road racing stars, sign me up. If there's going to be a gravel calendar, that obviously destroys the novelty and I'd have little interest.
Wait, gravel specialists thought they would best the top road racers? On that course?! They're insane if so...
Armchair Cyclist
Moderator
So in terms of the podium, ther were three relevant moments in the race away from the final sprint: Oss and Vermeersch make their break; Vermeersch shakes off Oss; and van Avermaet and van der Poel pull clear of the plainly falsely named 'chase' group. And of those three key events, we were shown none.
Ofc current road / CX pros were going to win, but if you had a 200 mile Dirty Kanza with clay mud they would not...
Yep, and I'm sure they'll be making excuses as to why they didn't get anywhere close too...
As long as Keegan Swenson doesn't start, we don't have any representative riders present to make a judgement about the level of elite gravelists.
Keegan is not really a top WC XCO pro...he could never break the top 20 in a 90 minute World Cup level race. He may be the 2nd best US male MTB pro right now. Chris Blevins is the best US MTB pro 90 minute racer, unless on a bad day.
I didn't say he was and I'm well aware of what he is as a rider, that wasn't at all my point.
I guess we can all agree that these gravel specialists in the USA don't really stand a chance against the World Tour road and XCO MTB racers. And I don't really consider Gianni Vermeersch a top, top road or CX racer...he's decent in both but certainly doesn't command top dollars for his services.
Yeah, you just have to look down the list of pros/ex-pros who have moved to gravel racing. Boswell, Ten Dam, Stetina, Morton. Some reasonable domestiques riders but that's it really.
I am guessing non-UCI gravel races are more varied, more gravel, not as flat?
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