For an idea of how much the Gravel World Championships have already caught the interest of some of the top riders in the women’s road peloton, just look at the two riders who did battle for the gold medal today. In the blue corner, representing Belgium, the best rider in the world at the moment, Lotte Kopecky; in the orange corner, adorned in the colours of her Dutch nation, Marianne Vos, the best rider of all time.
It was the kind of showdown that the UCI would have longed for, two of the very biggest names on the road renewing their rivalry on the gravel. Just last weekend Kopecky underlined her status as the world’s leading rider, by winning the World Championships road race for a second year running. That was her 14th win of the season, among them Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix titles, as well as overall victories at the Tour de Romandie and Tour of Britain. Whatever the format, whatever the terrain — and on Saturday, it turns out, whatever the road surface — she’s more often than not the woman to beat.
As for Vos, she has continued to pick up more major wins throughout the year in races like the Amstel Gold Race and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, bringing her career tally to a truly astonishing total in excess of 250. She’s also retained a habit for saving her best for the big occasion (as at the Olympics, where she earned a silver medal on the road), and for new challenges that pique her interest, and drive her to continue to race and add to her palmarès — of which the Gravel World Championships were the latest for her to conquest.
The race evolved into a contest between the sheer strength of the powerful Kopecky, and the wily experience of Vos. Kopecky was the aggressor throughout the race, gradually shedding her rivals with a series of accelerations whenever there was an especially hard part of the course. First she reduced the peloton to just 11 riders, within the first third of the race. Then another move saw her go away with just Vos, Lorena Wiebes and Soraya Paladin for company. And finally only Vos to keep up with the pace, so that the two were already clear with over 50km still to ride. For a rider participating in her first gravel race, the surface didn’t seem to pose Kopecky any problems whatsoever.
Vos might have been able to stick with Kopecky, but it was far from easy for her. “It was nice to be in the front with Lotte,” she said at the finish, before admitting “though you know it’s going to be hard. She’s so fast that it’s not perfect,” her rueful smile giving some indication as to how hard it must have been to keep up with her pace.
At the same time, Vos feared Kopecky’s sprint and didn’t back herself to win in one, so also had to muster the energy to attack and try to drop her. Her first attempt came 21km from the finish, on a muddy section through woodland, but Kopecky had little problem following her wheel. Then she tried again on the final climb of the Ramberg 1.6km from the finish, but again had to sit up shortly after when it was clear she wasn’t getting a gap.
Yet when it came to the sprint, Vos still managed to retain her trademark composure, and played a tactically astute game to still end up as the victor. “I wasn’t confident for the sprint, for sure,” she admitted. “But of course, I also knew it was hard to escape. So when I saw I wasn't going to make it I decided to wait.” She was careful not to go into the red with her acceleration on the Ramberg, and as soon as it was clear she was not going to distance Kopecky, she sat up and saved her strength.
From the moment Kopecky passed her near the top of the climb to reassert control, to 200 metres from the line on the finishing straight, Vos did not budge from Kopecky’s wheel. With several minutes between themselves and the chasing group that had formed behind consisting of Wiebes, Puck Pieterse and Romy Kasper, Vos knew she had time to play with, and could afford for the pace to drop to a near standstill. And that it almost did, as Kopecky slowed down, checking anxiously over her shoulder awaiting Vos’ move. When that move came, though, she had no response, and Vos powered away to take yet another victory.
“I should have done it differently,” said Kopecky at the finish, referring to the sprint. “But with Marianne you’re never sure. I should have started a bit earlier I think.” For all her strength, Vos’ experience ultimately got the better of her, though Kopecky didn’t seem disappointed with silver. After all, as she reiterated at the finish, this was her first ever gravel race, and she took to the event like a duck to water. Not that she was comfortable throughout — she was seen stretching her back on several occasions during the race, and revealed afterwards that her “lower back was exploding” with the efforts of negotiating such rough surfaces. Even someone as smooth as the Belgian over these gravel roads was suffering.
And there’s no disgrace in losing to a legend like Marianne Vos. Across all formats, taking in the road, cyclocross and the track, her win today is her 14th World Championships title, a remarkable statistic that testifies to the diversity, longevity and prolificness of her career. In gravel she discovered yet another frontier to conquer, and she has managed to do so at the age of 37. The greatest of all time continues to become yet greater with every passing year.
