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The UCI Gravel World Championships return to the Veneto region of Italy, October 7-8, 2023, and with a title wave of changes. Just one month before the second edition of the battle for rainbow stripes, the UCI announced that Pedali di Marca would take over as organisers for the event, replacing PP Sport Events. Then a completely new course was unveiled for Treviso, with races departing from Lago Le Bandie and including finish circuits at Pieve di Soligo.
Gone were the mostly flat courses from the inaugural season, which saw road tactics play out for sprint finishes in the elite races. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France) took the women’s victory ahead of Sina Frei (Switzerland) and Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium) led a pack of eight other pro road stars across the line for the men’s title.
Significantly more climbing has been added this year for all categories of racing, with elite women covering 140 kilometres on Saturday and elite men riding 169 kilometres on Sunday.
A 50-50 combination of surfaces, from the hard-packed white pebbles to the paved black tarmac, feature nine key climbs for the elite men and eight climbs for the elite women. Though 25 kilometres shorter than the inaugural edition of the men’s race, the course on Sunday has 1,900 metres of elevation gain, more than double from 2022. The women’s route is also hillier, with 1,660 metres of elevation gain.
Course details
All fields begin with a 5km lap on a dirt road around Lake Le Bandie in Spresiano. The route heads directly north to the first of three passes through the finish line in Pieve di Soligo, situated less than 50km from the start. The opening 30km passes through Grave di Papadopoli which offers terrain for attacks and riders to settle into positions over the longest stretch of dirt road, 21km along the Piave River.
At Ponte della Priula, the route turns away from the river and over the hills of Collalto, the first climb alongside vineyards at 3.8km and a 3.9% average gradient.
Hard-packed white roads then lead to the heart of the Prosecco hills in Pieve di Soligo and the beginning of the first loop, which is approximately 60km for elite men and 45km for elite women. The clockwise circuit begins with an asphalt climb to Arfanta (3.7 km at 4.3%) followed by…
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