UCI Gravel Championships Streaming

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by weisan;3429585[url

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/products/revealed-mathieu-van-der-poels-gravel-world-championship-bike-setup[/url]

"With the course being slightly less demanding than the likes of Unbound..."

slightly less demanding?!?! I'm gonna go ahead and say Unbound, on any given year, is head and shoulders harder than what was ridden today..

[EB]

Looks like a great course for 28s.

[MXLeader]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Bike Path World Championships

My thought exactly lol

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I think Europe has far fewer ‘gravel’ roads as we know them in the US, though I’m sure there are places where they’re much more common. But yeah, I’d love to ride a course like this. It looks like a blast with all the different surfaces.

In the Czech Republic near Poland and Slovakia (outside Trinec) they could host a beautiful gravel loop race on the hundreds of kilometers of gravel roads they have in the area. Big climbs on forest roads and lots of single or double track is all over to make things fun, too.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

In the Czech Republic near Poland and Slovakia (outside Trinec) they could host a beautiful gravel loop race on the hundreds of kilometers of gravel roads they have in the area. Big climbs on forest roads and lots of single or double track is all over to make things fun, too.

I would also guess Scandinavia must have a lot of unpaved roads, though I have never been there.

Today's race was basically like a spring classic but with fewer public roads and more trails through the woods. I enjoyed watching it.

That it is in Belgium doesn't bother me. It's one of the biggest hotbeds of cycling and the crowds were enthusiastic.

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I would also guess Scandinavia must have a lot of unpaved roads, though I have never been there.

I follow only two Formula 1-related accounts: Valtteri Bottas and Charles LeClerc’s dachshund. Valtteri posts about gravel riding in Finland and it looks pretty spectacular. Leo LeClerc posts about living the high life in the paddock, which also looks nice but I prefer the gravel.

[mcteague]

Just watched the final 8kms. Kept wondering where the gravel was. Bikes had slicks and road pedals. Bike path championship indeed.

Tim

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by mcteague

Just watched the final 8kms. Kept wondering where the gravel was. Bikes had slicks and road pedals. Bike path championship indeed.

Tim

Hey I use road pedals on all but my rowdiest rides where I know for certain I will encounter hike a bike

I didn’t watch much of the race so can’t comment, but what I saw was all paved on what looked like multi use paths. This is no longer surprising after the seeing previous editions.

[rwsaunders]

Originally Posted by weisan

Marianne Vos uses self-inflating tyres at Gravel World Championships



https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sel...-world-champs/

The UCI cares about the length of a rider’s socks but they let someone use this crap.

[vespasianus]

Originally Posted by rwsaunders

The UCI cares about the length of a rider’s socks but they let someone use this crap.

I mean, when you put it that way...

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by mcteague

Just watched the final 8kms. Kept wondering where the gravel was. Bikes had slicks and road pedals. Bike path championship indeed.

Tim

Even Unbound finishes on pavement. It certainly wasn't the most rugged of terrain, but I watched about 50km and it had lots of dirt, and some mud patches that looked like they were on the verge of treacherous (although often there was enough room for the riders to go around).

As someone who isn't from one of the great plains states, this actually looks more like "gravel" to me than a race like Unbound. When I first got introduced to gravel, it was about riding around on your road bike and finding unpaved side streets, paths, and shortcuts to spice things up a bit. This race was true to that vision. It looked like a fun course, and it's hard to argue that van der Poel isn't deserving of being the gravel world champion.

[floxy1]

That looked more of an epic cyclocross race than gravel imo

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by floxy1

That looked more of an epic cyclocross race than gravel imo

Did anyone have to run or jump barriers? I only watched the final 8 km so may have missed something.

Tim

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by mcteague

Did anyone have to run or jump barriers? I only watched the final 8 km so may have missed something.

Tim

You did. There was plenty of varied roads. It was pretty much as Prototoast describes, with everything from paved roads to near single track at times, including narrow paths through woods and along farm fields.

It indeed looked like a fun course to ride. Not a lot of vertical, but also no busy roads to get run over on should a rider ride the course privately.

[marciero]

Originally Posted by weisan

Marianne Vos uses self-inflating tyres at Gravel World Championships

But those are cyclocross tires. Is that allowed in a "gravel" race??