Because the 2024 WorldTour highway season begins to wind down and the blue touchpaper of the cyclocross season ignites, the autumn all the time looks like one thing of an inflection level.
Of the WorldTour riders, excluding the few that fancy themselves a tilt at Il Lombardia subsequent week, most are on the regular decline into the low season, if they don’t seem to be already there. And people on the nocturnal ‘cross calendar are on the ascendency, little doubt of their ultimate coaching block as racing will get underway, with the primary of the Actual Cross collection additionally coming subsequent week.
Sandwiched virtually completely between the 2 opposing seasons is a race that bridges the disciplines, the UCI Gravel World Championships.
How ironic, or maybe inevitable, it was then that the boys’s and girls’s elite races have been received by two riders which have dominated each side of drop-bar biking? With six cyclocross world titles every, in addition to an inventory of highway race titles that cement them each among the many biggest riders of all time, Mathieu van der Poel and Marianne Vos took house the boys’s and girls’s titles respectively.
However placing the spectacular racing from each of the Dutch superstars apart for a second – my race crew colleagues have lined that in nice element already – the streets of Leuven, Belgium have been additionally bustling with an array of latest and attention-grabbing tech.
For instance, earlier than the racing had even begun, Vos had made headlines along with her Cervelo Caledonia race bike. Our eagle-eyed Editor, Peter Stuart, noticed an uncommon hub laced into her wheels, which turned out to be an automated tyre inflation system from Dutch firm, Gravaa, the identical firm that paired with Visma Lease-a-Bike on the 2023 Paris Roubaix.
Elsewhere, an attention-grabbing new Lapierre – full with entrance suspension and floating seatstays – was noticed towards an FDJ-Suez crew automobile, whereas in Sunday’s males’s race, Matej Mohorič was noticed utilizing a dropper seatpost.
Not too dissimilar to our Unbound tech gallery, albeit with some added restrictions because of the UCI’s governance, we additionally noticed attention-grabbing paint, intelligent puncture safety hacks, new tyres and extra, so sit again and revel in as we deliver you a premium gallery filled with every little thing that we noticed.
Undoubtedly the largest tech speaking level of the weekend in Leuven was the return of the Gravaa self-inflating tyre strain system that was first unveiled at Paris-Roubaix 2023.
Vos paired the system with Dugast Hurricane 33mm tubeless cyclocross tyres to assist her take the rainbow jersey in a 3rd self-discipline. Reviews recommend that Kopecky heard the system partaking all through the race, and Vos maybe even used it to get well from a puncture. An indication of issues to return?
The system was additionally paired with gravel tyres by a few of Vos’ commerce teammates.
Nonetheless, different riders from the Visma-Lease a Bike setup opted towards the modern tech and went for a tried and examined methodology.
Cans of tyre restore sealant have been a typical sight throughout the bunch. The Italian crew all had a Vittoria Pit Cease can strapped to their bikes.
Possibly it is consistent with the Spirit of Gravel, however sealant strapped onto Silvia Persico’s customized Colnago G3X with low-cost masking tape actually bugs us.
In typical Colnago trend, the main points on this bike, just like the design on the highest tube storage cowl, actually set it aside.
The shimmering aqua paint job on the Italian’s steed was one thing to behold. It wasn’t our favorite bike from the ladies’s race, although.
Rwanda’s Xav Nirere took that prize with a customized Issue Ostro Gravel that will get higher the longer you cease and stare at it.
Issue have outdone themselves right here with a design that fades from white to inexperienced, with darkish inexperienced leopard print subtly protecting the body.
A splash of fluorescent yellow to the forks and chain stays makes the bike much more vibrant.
From eye-popping paint jobs to eye-catching unreleased steeds. Cyclingnews’ editor, Peter, noticed this Lapierre gravel bike within the pits on Saturday forward of the ladies’s race.
It is possible that this bike will add to the French model’s Pulsium ALLROAD – which is presently their solely gravel-specific body.
Floating seatstays have been one of many key new options, alongside entrance suspension for these heftier gravel tracks.
We additionally seen a RockShox Reverb AXS XPLR dropper submit fitted to the bike.
The splayed handlebars enable for an aggressive driving place which, alongside the suspension enhancements, suggests to us that this will probably be a motorbike made for these hardcore off-road challenges.
From one gravel racing machine to a different, Highway World Champion Lotte Kopecky took to the dust tracks and paths of Leuven with probably one of many lightest bikes within the pack.
Kopecky’s Specialised S-Works Crux appeared model new, with the Belgian rider operating a 48/35T 12-speed SRAM Crimson groupset for the race.
The Belgian went for the sunshine contact method to restore kits, opting only for one CO2 inflator.
Her Crux additionally had an unbranded, sponsor-incorrect saddle fitted, as is pretty widespread among the many girls’s peloton. We imagine this can be a Syncros saddle.
The cockpit is the Roval Rapide Cockpit, designed for the highway, however clearly succesful sufficient for gravel.
In the meantime, Mathieu van der Poel rode the gravel-specific Canyon Grail CFR to victory on Sunday.
We love this element of the bike’s precise measurements. The Dutchman was driving on a stack top of 590mm, along with his bike’s attain being 411mm.
MVDP’s Grail CFR can also be fitted with Shimano’s Dura-Ace r9270 Di2 as a substitute of the model’s GRX groupset. Intriguingly, the Dutchman has unbranded rims fitted – might they be an unreleased providing from Shimano or maybe from a competitor?
The Dutchman remained loyal to his common Selle Italia Flite Enhance Equipment Carbonio Superflow saddle over the model’s gravel-specific choices.
This Ridley Grifn was dimension XS and likewise featured an aggressive match.
A Deda Zero100 stem and handlebar of the identical model have been used to provide this attacking angle.
Talking of aggressive approaches to gravel racing, these five-spoke Xentis Excessive X wheels are proper up there too!
Alpecin-Deceuninck sports activities physio Tess Rindler-Bachl represented Austria within the girls’s elite race on the eye-catching Canyon.
The Xentis wheelset retails for €1,629 and weighs in at 1100g for the pair.
Simply because gravel bikes get a bit dusty, it doesn’t suggest that there is no place for some bling. Tessa Neefjes had carbon-spoked Cadex wheels and a CeramicSpeed cage that each featured accents of gold.
In the meantime sixth-place finisher Connor Swift rode Pinarello’s all-road providing of the Dogma X.
One of many bike’s key USPs is the XStays designed to soak up the vibrations of the rugged gravel terrain whereas guaranteeing the correct quantity of stiffness too.
Swift described the X as similar to its highway sibling, the F. His body for Gravel Worlds was fitted with a MOST Talon Extremely Mild built-in handlebar.
Whereas Swift’s bike was equivalent in paint job to his commerce crew’s highway bike, Lucinda Model was handled to a contemporary lick of paint on her Trek Domane.
Fellow Lidl-Trek rider Shirin van Anrooij opted for the brand new Trek Checkmate although – the most recent model of the model’s all-out gravel racing mannequin.
The Dutch rider was utilizing a SRAM Crimson AXS 1x setup with a Ok-Edge Braze-On chain catcher.
In the meantime, Heidi Franz was driving a customized Issue LS for the ladies’s elite race that used an über light-weight Easton crankset.
Regardless of the high-end, light-weight cranks, Franz wasn’t afraid to go old-school along with her puncture instruments. The American had a tiny tyre plug equipment strapped to her body, maybe in a bid to avoid wasting weight?
And yep, you noticed that proper. Franz additionally fitted a bell to her bike, telling Cyclingnews “I added a bell to see if it could assist me get previous!”
One other minute element we noticed within the pits was the usage of zip ties by former British nationwide champion Danni Shrosbree.
The plastic cables provided additional assist for her bottle cages as she tackled the uneven terrain.
If Shrosbree’s bottle cage hack was unassuming, her Felt Breed was something however that.
Loads of her parts have seen a season’s value of racing however the Breed body with its graffiti-style decals pops.
Shrosbree opted for the Shimano GRX 48/31T groupset with a 4iiii energy meter. She was additionally driving on Hunt Limitless wheels with 40mm Kenda Alluvium Professional gravel tyres.
This Selle SMP Dynamic saddle was an attention-grabbing pairing for Lander Loockx’s Cannondale SuperSix EVO and its Tour de Tietema crew livery.
We really feel just like the crew mechanic might’ve accomplished a tidier job with {the electrical} tape right here.
Lastly, Reverb Biking Staff’s bikes, constructed round a 3T Racemax body, had a stealthy paint job for starters, however then we seen another intriguing parts.
The bike featured a modern 3T Extra stem for built-in cable routing.
And the 3T Torno 1X-specific crankset that offers off a fairly brutalist really feel to say its made in Italy.
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