As the gravel scene grows from strength to strength, its capacity to pull together a world-class field from several disciplines of cycling at once is certainly part of its appeal. And really, who better to win the first elite gravel world championship title than Ferrand-Prévot: the powerful Frenchwoman who etched her name in history in 2015 by being the first rider to hold the road, cyclocross and cross-country mountain bike world championship titles all at the same time.
Not shy of a challenge, Ferrand-Prévot’s gravel victory builds on her 2022 world championship titles in short track cross-country, Olympic distance cross-country and marathon mountain biking. She is now the first rider to earn rainbow bands a whopping four times in the same calendar year.
Vermeersch's combined road and cyclocross background were also key to his gravel victory.
Frei and Ferrand-Prévot uncatchable in the Elite Women's Gravel World Championships
The gravel world championships race took place in the Veneto region of north-east Italy. The elite women raced over a 140-kilometre mixed-surface course which included 31 per cent asphalt as well as gravel, farm tracks and bike paths. The course was fast, but not overly technical.
An attack came immediately, with 2021 mountain bike cross-country short track UCI World Champion Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) and Ferrand-Prévot pushing the pace and making a selection of fewer than 20 riders in the first few kilometres.
After four hours and nine minutes, the duo hit the finishing straight together. Ferrand-Prévot, confident that her sprint was too powerful for Frei, was able to enjoy saluting early as she rolled over the finish line.
Italian Chiara Teocchi (Trinity Racing) claimed bronze 11 seconds behind the winner. Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) was the first-placed Australian in sixth place, 40 seconds behind Ferrand- Prévot.
After the race, Ferrand-Prévot drove six and a half hours to Fréjus, France, slept for three hours, then raced and won the Roc d’Azur mountain bike race which takes on some of her training trails.
Oss and Vermeersch dominate the Elite Men's Gravel World Championships
The elite men’s race used the same course as the elite women’s event, but with two additional 27-kilometre loops, bringing the total distance to 194 kilometres. This race also attracted a mix of road, mountain bike and cyclocross specialists.
With 60km to go, it was Italy’s Daniel Oss (TotalEnergies) and Belgium’s Vermeersch who had established a five-minute gap over the rest of the field.
With 50km to go, Australian Nathan Haas, who retired from professional road racing in 202, was pulling things along at the front of the chasing peloton. This included four-time cyclocross world champion Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), three-time road race world champion Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) and Danish road racing star Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost).
Oss and Vermeersch held onto their lead and with 5.5 kilometres to go, Vermeersch cranked up the power and pulled away.
Down the final straight, Vermeersch raised his arms in celebration to win in five hours, ten minutes and 38 seconds. Oss crossed the line for second 43 seconds back. 45 seconds further back, Van der Poel outsprinted Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën Team) for third.
Haas was the best-placed Australian in 16th, six minutes and 23 seconds behind the winner.
“It’s crazy,” said Vermeersch on winning the rainbow jersey. “I knew the final singletrack was one of my favourite parts of the race and just went full into it. I knew the group behind were getting closer so went full on.”
Next year's gravel world championships will take place on 30 September and 1 October.
