Ignoring my very own recommendation by no means to learn the feedback part on Cyclingnews; while sinking right into a current piece concerning the USA staff not supporting its gravel athletes this 12 months, I used to be but once more stunned by the sentiment many have in the direction of the UCI Gravel Worlds Championships, calling it ‘bike path world champs’ and a ‘shame to USA gravel’. This final remark triggered me briefly, as a result of as for the way I see gravel, programs will be no matter they like, there isn’t a definition of what makes it a real gravel course vs one which is not.
If you have not seen the course, you’ll be able to see the UCI Gravel World Championships route right here – it is a couple of 50/50 cut up between tough floor and street. The race kicks off in Halle, loops across the south facet of Brussels, and finishes in Leuven. It is truly one of many solely gravel races on the calendar that has a distinctly completely different and far-apart begin and end, making it completely different in its personal proper, however presumably logistically tougher for these riders and not using a assist staff.
Alongside that course, we go from gravel to street, by way of parks, bike paths, forests and cities. So what makes a race a gravel race?
Let us take a look at Unbound: Certain it is 90% gravel nevertheless it’s basically a boring street race on unfinished roads – 20 kilometres straight and not using a single flip. However that is all Kansas has to supply. Belgian Waffle Experience California is lower than 40% gravel however is seen as hardcore, technical, and loopy. Folks rave about how enjoyable this race is, however by no means complain concerning the 60% street, as a result of they know that is what the world has to supply.
For the primary Gravel Worlds – I lined this level in my weblog again then – they did a superb job even discovering a gravel course in that space. Once more, theme constructing right here (It is based mostly on what they’ve). Certain, lots was bike path, nevertheless it was an epic race. Not as a result of it had a gnarly part, nor as a result of it was pure gravel, however due to who was racing and what we have been racing for – our sport’s first recognition on the massive stage.
So now three years into gravel being a “sport”, there are those that are firing photographs but once more on the UCI for the course that we have seen, however earlier than getting on the anti-UCI bandwagon, let’s think about a number of issues.
Belgium is inarguably the hub of biking, no different nation loves biking like Belgium, and the vibe on the Flanders Highway World Championships in 2021 was wild. Gravel wants that buzz, that is the entire cause to race/experience/dwell for in gravel. So Belgium hits the candy spot proper there.
We’re set on Belgium then, however one draw back for gravel using is that Belgium is both highways, farm roads, farm land, suburbs and/or industrial areas. The forests close to main cities are small and infrequently join with out crossing highways, so planning a 187km race is fairly laborious to do. So a 50/50 cut up of street/off-road is fairly good. Paul Voss, German nationwide gravel champion has mentioned that regardless of the street sections, the gravel actually requires good bike abilities, it is laborious, and is a ‘actual gravel course’. He additionally expresses the caveat that it is nice, on condition that the world has challenges to be an countless gravel course, however is an actual race nonetheless.
Would he use a street bike? No. Would he use an MTB? No. So it is a gravel race. However why are we so set on defining what a gravel race ought to or have to be? For instance, for Sea Otter in Girona, it might have maybe been higher to make use of a light-weight MTB. Steamboat could possibly be received on a street bike with robust tyres, and BWR California is lower than 50% dust, however one of many iconic races in Gravel. So why do we’ve got larger requirements for World Championships?
I believe the larger situation/ consideration is the truth that the course wants to suit so many individuals.
Elite males have 300-plus starters. That’s wild. Unbound, Traka have 200-4000 starters, however at most, 100 elite riders on the entrance. 300 riders all realistically combating for the win? That is insane. Then launched immediately after, the age teams. I had a horrible begin at Worlds final 12 months and was caught by waves of age-group riders. If the course was extra ‘single observe’ or smaller roads, the situations of the course would not enable large numbers. The bottlenecks would finish folks’s possibilities, and the fights for coming into sectors would trigger large crashes.
The course it appears has been designed to be enjoyable, difficult, however open sufficient to have area to experience by way of the group with out being caught behind an extended, lengthy line. Nevertheless it begs probably the most urgent query; has sufficient been performed to make sure gravel riders get to start out close to the entrance of the race?
The larger situation I see coming, by way of anecdotal proof and informal conversations, is unfortunately, the true Gravel professionals, the riders who race elite gravel races as their major race calendar, and who’re financially sponsored as Gravel Specialists are dropping curiosity within the UCI gravel world championships.
It is not due to the course although, or a scarcity of federation assist, it is due to a scarcity of voice we’ve got to be on a degree taking part in discipline. The beginning field association is predicated on a mix of factors: from UCI gravel races, 50% street race factors, 50% MTB disciplines, 50% CX factors and any factors from the earlier 12 months’s world championships. It is actually unimaginable for a devoted gravel rider to match even 50% of the UCI factors from a street season.
On the UCI Gravel World Sequence Sea Otter race in Girona a number of weeks in the past, we had a severely spectacular begin record. Nice. I like a aggressive, quick race. However at first, the race organisers determined to do a call-up field, to start out in entrance of the Elite riders. It appeared like a very arbitrary determination of names, all of the WorldTour riders, but in addition Alejandro Valverde and Petr Vakoc, each ex-WorldTour, however now not competing on the street. Notably omitted from the superior begin field have been the USA and German nationwide gravel champions.
Personally, I am not in fantasy land right here. In my peak type in my street profession, it might have been a fluke or stroke of luck to win towards Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, and the likes. Stretching into my “golden years” that fluke probability has diminished to a vanishing level. However that does not imply I do not need to have truthful illustration and a good shot, and I believe my fellow gravel professionals really feel the identical.
We have some work to do with the UCI, not a struggle, however simply extra discussions to verify these of us in our ranks who really can compete are given a good probability to take action. And belief me – these gravel specialists can tackle any floor, bike path, street, or Belgian roundabout.
