Expect the unexpected at the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championships this weekend. The wildly-popular discipline has been driven by ambitious athletes who are independent of traditional team support and tactics, so a championships environment with national allegiances tips the norm for a gravel race.
In addition, women race separately from the men, which is also unusual for the usual wild west stampede-style of full-speed adventure. The start lists include a potpourri of names, from pro road tour riders to mountain bike specialists. Most of the new names came from a qualification process through the year-long Trek UCI Gravel World Series, where the top 25% of each race made the cut in their age groups.
Many of the US stars on gravel did not seek a roster spot via a quota selection process made available to national federations, remaining stateside instead to avoid the long travel for one day of racing. Many of the big names in US gravel are focused on the final stop of the Life Time Grand Prix in two weeks, with its $250,000 overall cash purse at stake. However, Life Time contenders Sarah Sturm, Emily Newsom and Alex Howes will make the trip for the US team.
The elite women will contest for a rainbow jersey on Saturday, October 8 on a 140km course between Vicenza and Cittadella. The elite men will race on Sunday for 190km, using the same route but completing a finishing circuit a second time for the additional 25km. There is 69% gravel in the elite women’s contest and 73% gravel for elite men.
Italy hosted one of the rounds of the World Series on September 3 at La Monsterrato in the Piemonte region, with 122km and 1,390 metres of elevation gain. More than 300 kilometres to the east in the Veneto region, riders will experience a World Championships course that is longer than the World Series race but has half of the climbing. Combining that with dry weather conditions, it should be a fast and dusty pack of riders for both elite fields who will most likely need a final kick in a sprint to earn spots in the record books.
Elite women
Lauren De Crescenzo gained entry into the inaugural World Championships by way of the quota selection process for Team USA. Her name is synonymous with gravel racing, having put on a show to win the 2021 Unbound Gravel 200 title. From there, she won back-to-back crowns at SBT GRVL in Colorado and Gravel Worlds in…
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