Gravel Worlds.....Any thoughts?

So Keegan showed he could hang with the big boys, great result for him. Honestly if Wout hadn't had his punctures and mechanicals he probably would have rode away with it, but that is part of gravel racing. From the highlights I could catch it looked like a much better course than last years, more gravel, more terrain,  and some pretty technical sections. I'm wondering if team USA might be better served by bringing some of the former WT riders along for more support for someone like Keegan. Maybe Howes and Stetina with their Euro-centric riding experience could have helped out earlier in the race? But like Nico Roche said that these WT guys with their massive engines and massive amounts of training and racing KM's are going to be very hard to beat no matter what.

 

I know people will still complain about it not being a "true" gravel race because it's not Unbound or "gravel worlds" but what I caught was entertaining.

For a second year the Americans started way back in the grid because they haven't amassed the point that Euro racers do. That should be fixed.

The course looked like a huge improvement over last year, with some good technical sections.  Still flat by Vermont standards. ;-)

 

The WorldTour riders do have the huge engines, and as one of them said,  "It's not as if we never ride gravel".  More of them are incorporating gravel into their training for variety, and many of them have MTB or CX experience.

 

Interesting look at the winning bike(men's) :  Pro Bike Check Teaser: Unreleased Merida Silex of Gravel World Champ Matej Mohorič - Bikerumor

 

Mechanicals are a part of gravel racing.  There's always a luck factor, but gear choice, prep, riding skills, and rider mechanical skills make a big difference. 

Long straight boring North American gravel roads are what we tend to think of as "gravel", but  just like MTB riding is not all done in the mountains, gravel is more than the name for this discipline.

 

I think BWR has it right with a mix of rideable singletrack, multi-use path, double-track, pavement (but not too much), grass, cobbles, etc... and the world's course was very much like a BWR course.

 

World tour road racers are just insanely good all around bike riders and discounting them because their career demands they ride primarily pavement is a mistake. The descent by Mohoric (with the one small mistake) was so good...

Yes, I heard more than once that this resembled a BWR type race. I didn't notice if Mohoric used a dropper post this race, it was kind of a sketchy decent. I read an article where Wout himself said he was not very good at fixing his tire hence why he lost so much time. As far as the starting grid, I wonder why they don't do a neutral roll out start like all other UCI road races and American gravel races?

I think a lot of people tend to discount if WT pros could race American gravel because usually when they come over to do an American gravel race, they are not really there to truly compete. Like when Sagan came and did the unbound 100. Or they are in a down period on their schedule so they don't really want to go too hard. Just there to have some fun and experience it. 

Local gal from Chambersburg PA. did well and finished 2nd  in the women's race and won free entry into their Gravel Worlds race again over there next year. Typical I guess the same as TdF they didn't take her podium pic as she said in the article because she wasn't European. Pretty classless.

 

Beth Leasure-Hudson I think she lives close to Chambersburg PA.

 

2nd at European Gravel Championships in Belgium! Crushing it but ran out of gas in second half of last lap and got passed by the winner. She’s a Belgian and Cyclocross World Champion who raced pro as late as 2016 so I’ll take it! Super fast course. Typical Belgian cobbles and deep cut farm lanes and beautiful fast gravel in Brabant Woods. No podium photos since I’m not European. So the 2nd place qualifies me for Gravel Worlds in 2024, back here in Brabant! On to Italy for this year’s gravel Worlds next Saturday.

 

Zman