XC Marathon races can be about 4-5 hours, depending on the route....
I wonder what tyre sizes they're using; those on the Grizl ridden by MvdP & Vermeersch don't look massive.
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XC Marathon races can be about 4-5 hours, depending on the route....
I wonder what tyre sizes they're using; those on the Grizl ridden by MvdP & Vermeersch don't look massive.
A better pic of his bike, now it's not a given he will ride this same combo in the race. Looks like Vittoria Terreno Dry tires, not sure what size, probably 35mm or something.
Also, road pedals and shoes, so that's unusual as well.
There's a young guy from here who has done several of the bigger USA races and he uses 40 most of the time (45 when he rides the trails in the foothills).
Saturday for the women, partly cloudy and dry:
For the men on Sunday, it will rain overnight so the trails should be pretty moist, if not wet
Wet could help the guys with better skill, but a little less fitness.Saturday for the women, partly cloudy and dry:
For the men on Sunday, it will rain overnight so the trails should be pretty moist, if not wet
Ok but are those included in the World Championships? I think its just XCO/XCC events but I am not the most knowledgable about these off-road races so I might be missing something.
Yes, the Marathon Worlds were about 3 weeks ago in Denmark; separate from the MTB Worlds in Les Gets....from next year, XC Marathon races will be included as part of the XC World Cups.
Of course it's a gimmick and judging by the lack of many of the dedicated gravel types on the startlist it might be a bit premature to set up a World Championships, but it gets plenty of people a chance to get out and do some endurance riding without the risks attached of open road riding or the extent of technical requirements and challenges of CX or mountainbike, so it certainly has a role to play, but to date I've found it hard to shake the feeling of it being a sort of off-road road racing, or a massively simplified XCO MTB, that is good for participation but does tend to cater to the perception raised above that it's kind of a non-specific middle-ground for riders who either haven't found a niche or haven't made the cut in any one major discipline, and part of its appeal at the moment is how unregulated it is, so if the UCI are going to be stepping in and creating a formalised circuit, they run the risk of strangling the very thing that makes it appealing.
I kind of think that if they're going to go that route, they should have gone with the real length element of it, though, and made it like a 200-mile race for sure. I feel like gravel in the world of professional cycling at least should fulfil a similar kind of role to what Worldloppet does in cross-country skiing. Worldloppet has a mixture of professional and amateur competitors, men and women alike, all competing on the same course at the same time (with the elite women given a headstart, so the best women often hitch a ride for part of the course with the elite men when they are reeled in, adding a further tactical element which also increases the possibility of earlier attacks), along courses which are often narrower than those used on the main cross-country calendar (as almost all races are in Classic and often trails can be only a couple of tracks wide), and are usually of the kind of length which is as long as it gets on the World Cup or even longer (topping out of course at the 90km Vasaloppet), but the counter to that is that Worldloppet courses are often much flatter, with a couple of smaller obstacles or signature hills, rather than the constant ups and downs of regular World Cup courses.
If gravel as a discipline went along similar lines, so it had a top level circuit with some pro teams specialising in it plus occasional ringers coming in from pro circuits in other disciplines (like seeing Kowalczyk or Sundby rock up to Birkebeinerrennet) and amateurs taking place alongside, on real distance courses that gave it a point of differentiation and helped give it some uniqueness as a discipline, that would be grand; the comparatively easy height profile and lack of super-tough technical MTB-style challenges makes it more accessible to beginners and the endurance required to contest over the long distance will beget a new specialist type that is not really catered for in current pro cycling.
I kind of think that if they're going to go that route, they should have gone with the real length element of it, though, and made it like a 200-mile race for sure. I feel like gravel in the world of professional cycling at least should fulfil a similar kind of role to what Worldloppet does in cross-country skiing. Worldloppet has a mixture of professional and amateur competitors, men and women alike, all competing on the same course at the same time (with the elite women given a headstart, so the best women often hitch a ride for part of the course with the elite men when they are reeled in, adding a further tactical element which also increases the possibility of earlier attacks), along courses which are often narrower than those used on the main cross-country calendar (as almost all races are in Classic and often trails can be only a couple of tracks wide), and are usually of the kind of length which is as long as it gets on the World Cup or even longer (topping out of course at the 90km Vasaloppet), but the counter to that is that Worldloppet courses are often much flatter, with a couple of smaller obstacles or signature hills, rather than the constant ups and downs of regular World Cup courses.
If gravel as a discipline went along similar lines, so it had a top level circuit with some pro teams specialising in it plus occasional ringers coming in from pro circuits in other disciplines (like seeing Kowalczyk or Sundby rock up to Birkebeinerrennet) and amateurs taking place alongside, on real distance courses that gave it a point of differentiation and helped give it some uniqueness as a discipline, that would be grand; the comparatively easy height profile and lack of super-tough technical MTB-style challenges makes it more accessible to beginners and the endurance required to contest over the long distance will beget a new specialist type that is not really catered for in current pro cycling.
Sure, I’d prefer to ride gravel than road, gets one away from traffic. Doesn’t make the field any better.
A better pic of his bike, now it's not a given he will ride this same combo in the race. Looks like Vittoria Terreno Dry tires, not sure what size, probably 35mm or something.
Also, road pedals and shoes, so that's unusual as well.
So apparently this was just the training bike (or the one from Vermeersch ) and he'll be racing on Grizl. Here it is:
Revealed: Mathieu Van der Poel's Canyon Grizl for the UCI Gravel World Championships
You'll be hard pressed to find another rider who makes more use of the entire Canyon range of bikes than Mathieu van der Poel.
www.velonews.com
I’ll give gravel a chance, I do after all enjoy Strade Bianche, but clearly not the same thing.
Onboard route recon, first 23 km of gravel parts. I have to say that part that stars @2:30 with the 10%+ gravel climb looks brutal.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RGnxnOdZGk
All I want to see is MVDP fixing a flat tire by the side of the road using tire levers.
Armchair cyclist
Moderator
So they are totally unassisted outside the feed zones? They can't employ a small boy to work the bellows?
XC Marathon is just sooo much more appealing than XC to me. I've also competed before. Seeing all the guys with the single ring in the front look perplex when I rode past them like it was nothing on an old triple chainring when we were on a long 2% false flat downhill was priceless.
I saw XC Marathon described as 'proper' MTB-ing; long days in the saddle riding forest trails, single track, natural obstacles, etc In fact, the old school XC World Cup was like this; there are some videos on YouTube of the Grundig World Cup....
If MvdP races on what is a road bike (Endurace) then it's not really a gravel race is it?
It surely can't be any worse?
If MvdP races on what is a road bike (Endurace) then it's not really a gravel race is it?
It surely can't be any worse?
Probably sponsors. He was actually meant to be doing Il Lombardia.
It's a World championship, and he actually mentioned it in an interview last year with GCN. Gravel is already more global than Cyclocross......and is a far bigger market for bike manufacturers,
two small girls for MvdP.
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