Ignoring my very own recommendation by no means to learn the feedback part on Cyclingnews; while sinking right into a current piece in regards to the USA crew not supporting its gravel athletes this 12 months, I used to be but once more shocked by the sentiment many have in 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 a way I see gravel, programs may be no matter they like, there is no such thing as a definition of what makes it a real gravel course vs one which is not.
If you have not seen the course, you possibly can see the UCI Gravel World Championships route right here – it is a few 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 totally different and far-apart begin and end, making it totally different in its personal proper, however presumably logistically more durable for these riders and not using a help crew.
Alongside that course, we go from gravel to street, via parks, bike paths, forests and cities. So what makes a race a gravel race?
Let’s take a look at Unbound: Certain it is 90% gravel however it’s primarily 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 Trip California is lower than 40% gravel however is seen as hardcore, technical, and loopy. Individuals rave about how enjoyable this race is, however by no means complain in regards to 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 primarily based on what they’ve). Certain, quite a bit was bike path, however 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 had 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 take into account a number of issues.
Belgium is inarguably the hub of biking, no different nation loves biking like Belgium, and the vibe on the Flanders Street World Championships in 2021 was wild. Gravel wants that buzz, that is the entire cause to race/journey/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 onerous to do. So a 50/50 cut up of street/off-road is fairly good. Paul Voss, German nationwide gravel champion has stated that regardless of the street sections, the gravel actually requires good bike abilities, it is onerous, 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 limitless 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 must be? For instance, for Sea Otter in Girona, it could have maybe been higher to make use of a light-weight MTB. Steamboat could possibly be received on a street bike with powerful tyres, and BWR California is lower than 50% dust, however one of many iconic races in Gravel. So why do we’ve increased requirements for World Championships?
I feel 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 preventing for the win? That is insane. Then launched instantly 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 circumstances of the course would not permit large numbers. The bottlenecks would finish individuals’s probabilities, and the fights for getting into sectors would trigger large crashes.
The course it appears has been designed to be enjoyable, difficult, however open sufficient to have area to journey via the group with out being caught at the back of an extended, lengthy line. However it begs probably the most urgent query; has sufficient been accomplished to make sure gravel riders get to start out close to the entrance of the race?
The larger situation I see coming, via anecdotal proof and informal conversations, is unfortunately, the true Gravel professionals, the riders who race elite gravel races as their predominant 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 help, it is due to a scarcity of voice we’ve to be on a degree enjoying area. The beginning field association relies 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 unattainable 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 critically spectacular begin checklist. Nice. I like a aggressive, quick race. However at the beginning, the race organisers determined to do a call-up field, to start out in entrance of the Elite riders. It appeared like a totally arbitrary choice of names, all of the WorldTour riders, but in addition Alejandro Valverde and Petr Vakoc, each ex-WorldTour, however not competing on the street. Notably omitted from the superior begin field had been the USA and German nationwide gravel champions.
Personally, I am not in fantasy land right here. In my peak kind in my street profession, it could 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 wish to have truthful illustration and a good shot, and I feel 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 ensure these of us in our ranks who actually 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.