The historic centre of Cittadella heaves with crowds, who have squeezed into its narrow streets and are now pouring out of the bars and cafes. Buildings finished in warm terracotta tones flank the final straight of the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championships, as the world’s best riders from road, mountain bike, cyclocross and gravel charge home. With an atmosphere that felt so familiar to any road cycling fan, this event felt remarkably un-gravel. What were the riders going to think?
As long-term gravel addicts with one eye on race results and another on the development of gravel bikes and components, it feels slightly strange to be writing about the inaugural World Gravel Championship in 2022. It’s as though someone has come significantly late to the party. Unsurprisingly, the very same air of debate that you’ll have seen on social media echoed around the beautiful walled city of Cittadella - was it the right concept? Was it the right course? Is there even such a thing as the right course for gravel? But contrary to how tame the racing and terrain might have looked on the TV live feed, we have it on good authority that it was far from boring.
Unlike other exclusive world championships within cycling, track, road, mountain bike or even cyclo-cross, the Gravel Worlds were a catch-all occasion in more ways than one. Alongside the elite men and women, the mass of age group riders gave the event something of a big city marathon vibe, where the world’s best led the way, followed by amateurs from all over the world who have travelled to the start in Vicenza with the aspiration of being crowned world champion.
This hybrid approach of fleshing out the World Champs led to a juxtaposition. In the elite field at the front of the starting grids, the fastest and most advanced equipment was on display, including full factory support and full national team support supplied by a crossbreed of federations (especially if you were Italian), brands and trade teams. Behind that, it was a case of what could be achieved depending on budgets, seeing the all-important tyre and gearing choices left down to what a rider had at home, could afford, or could source.
From cyclocross-style setups to full-force 48mm gravel rigs and even the odd out-of-its-depth road bike, it was all on show, something that reflects the current and still fluid, nature of gravel. 1x or 2x, hydration packs or support with water bottles, it was a semi self-supported race that left critical choices up to the riders – and quite frankly, this felt like a really nice, non-discriminatory version of a race for a world title. Bright eyed and apprehensive, the number of nationalities involved felt relatively profound and this diversity was topped by the wide age range of racers present and the massive number of female competitors, who raced on the Saturday and unfortunately therefore missed out on a lot of the fans.
As we milled around the start and finish, we caught up with a few riders to get their take on the experience.
Tim Borset, USA, 60-64, 5th
“You could say I’m a racer. I typically race 6-10 times per year. But as I live in the mountains of North Carolina, this will be a very different course for me. I won the qualifier in Arkansas and this has been my target race all year. Bike setup is a very delicate business - I had to make sure I had the best to be ready for the biggest race of the year.”
Tony, Australia, 50-54, DNF
“I’m trying to smile but I’m actually really nervous. I’ve put some thought into my bike set-up for today and have gone for a bigger chainring in the front and chosen my tyres for the dry weather. I’ve only reccied the first part – I think that’s where the sorting out will take place – then the next 100-odd kilometres will be a hard slog. I’m in the grid 45 minutes before the start because I know the first climb is going to be decisive and I want to get up there.”
Dennis Bruin, 50-54, Netherlands, 34th
“While I definitely enjoyed it to the fullest, it wasn’t a real gravel event in my eyes. I think it would have benefitted from a mass start, like you normally get with gravel races. And if the race is 196 km like the elite men did, then we should all have done that. Gravel is meant to be progressive, but this event put women back in the former position, starting on a different day and riding a shorter course. This is a real pity. When you start Unbound, everyone’s there on the same day, you’ve got the elites and the 65-year-olds, side-by-side. It also felt slightly age-discriminatory to the age groupers on the Sunday who were trying to get out for their final lap as the elite riders were finishing, but their way was impeded by spectators. It was also sad not to have a post-event party, like you get at Unbound and other events and there was none of the usual gravelly respect that’s shown to the riders who are coming in last. That was missing here."
"Naively I’d imagined that us old guys would have a more gentlemanly start and it would be fairly mellow in my race, but it was full-gas from the gun and I had a hard time following the lightweight Italians and Spanish riders up the first climb. After the climb we turned into the first descent where I could make up a lot of positions. From here we went into some open fields, with a long stretch of singletrack with sharp rocks on the bottom and an off-camber line. It was fairly difficult to ride but fortunately I was at the front of a group, which was super advantageous and I was able to bridge over to the second group. After the second climb and descent, it was basically pancake flat until the end, which suited me and I got the motor running, chasing the first group that contained all the lighter riders who’d got away on the climbs. Unfortunately, I flatted after just 60 km, which was a major bummer and I had to chase back on into a headwind for the next 15-20 km. After another flat tyre at 90 km my morale was a bit dented, but I then found myself in a group with a guy that I knew from the 65-69 age category, so I helped him ride to 3rd place and I felt that the situation was improved by the fact I could do something for someone else. It was a hard struggle during the race, but I enjoyed it to the max. Once I crossed the line, I was waiting for my partner who got sixth on the women 40-44, only two minutes behind second. She did a fantastic ride despite some chain issues.”
Luis Paolo Castaneda 45-49 (2nd from left) DNF, Anthony Lee 50-54 (centre) 40th, Philip Gohoc 60-65 (2nd from right) 11th, Philippines
“We didn’t officially travel over together as the national team, but a lot of us are from the same club so travelling together made sense. We are quite used to gravel racing, but this is something else, especially considering that our qualifying race was only 86 km. The level will be a lot higher than anything we’ve experienced so far.”
With the dust now settled after the first ever UCI Gravel World Championships, a weekend packed with two days of racing over numerous categories, the world of cycling has time to reflect. An event full of learning that has sparked debate before, during and after, it is arguably a welcome addition to the world of gravel. From our standpoint, seeing the barrier to access lowered plastered a smile on our faces, but it’s worth mentioning that accessibility is nothing new to gravel – this element, along with a festival-like, family-friendly spectator vibe, has long been a trait of the discipline.
The question now is to see where the UCI takes this event in the future. Naturally, there is a lot that could be tweaked and re-worked to create an event that focuses on performance yet allows as much access to the competition as possible. Everyone has an opinion, we just hope the right ones are voiced.
UCI, if you’re reading this, Gravel Union would be happy to consult on the matter.