Rainbow racing recap: Gravel worlds and Pogačar’s new threads

Lots of rainbow jerseys being worn and won on Saturday and Sunday! The third edition of the UCI gravel worlds went down in Leuven, Belgium, and Tadej Pogačar debuted his new rainbow jersey with a dominant win at

Vos takes another rainbow jersey

Marianne Vos won the women’s gravel world championships in Leuven, Belgium, outsprinting Lotte Kopecky after an early split in the peloton. The race turned into a two-woman sprint between Vos and Kopecky, with Vos ultimately finishing strong, leaving Lorena Wiebes almost four minutes behind. A full Canadian contingent participated, with Alison Jackson placing 37th, Pénélope Primeau 68th, Lucy Hempstead 70th, Anna Gabrielle Traxler 88th, and Kaitlyn Rauwerda 100th.

Mathieu van der Poel dominates in men’s gravel worlds

The former world road race champ and current ‘cross champ entered the race as the favorite and lived up to the hype. He was perhaps inspired by Tadej Pogačar’s performance at the road worlds as he attacked with 100 km to go but was caught before the decisive move formed. He and Connor Swift launched an attack, joined by defending champion Matej Mohorič, Jasper Stuyven, Quinten Hermans, and the Vermeersch brothers, forming a seven-rider group for the final fifty kilometers.
The Belgians attempted to leverage their numbers, with Gianni Vermeersch attacking in Leuven and Jasper Stuyven on the Ramsberg. Van der Poel maintained control, following Florian Vermeersch’s attack 40 km from the finish to create a gap. He then dropped Vermeersch with 25 km to go on a steep climb, securing a dominant win. Florian Vermeersch finished second, while Hermans won the sprint for third.

Pogačar shows off his new rainbow jersey in style

Debuting his rainbow jersey, Tadej Pogačar won Saturday’s Giro dell’Emilia, one of the Italian warm-up races for next Saturday’s Il Lombardia, the Race of the Falling Leaves. In a classic Pog move, the Slovenian went solo with 38 km remaining. Michael Woods finished just off the podium. It was his fifth Giro dell’Emilia top-5; Rusty was fifth last season, third in 2021, runner-up in 2019, and fourth in 2018.

Pogačar soloed in for the victory, almost two minutes ahead of Tom Pidcock.