This weekend sees the return of one of what has, since its inception in 2022, become one of the more difficult races to categorise of the season — the UCI Gravel World Championships. Is it an offshoot of the road season, a race in the manner of, say, Strade Bianche with its stretches of off-road surfaces, but still one that’s the domain of the WorldTour pros? Or is it the endpoint of the specific gravel season, a campaign that’s been going on since last autumn and been contested for by riders who specialise in these races? 

A look at the protagonists of past editions suggests the former to be more true. Last year, two of the biggest stars in the WorldTour were crowned world champion on gravel. First Marianne Vos got the better of Lotte Kopecky to take the elite women’s title, adding a gravel title to go alongside her many others from so many different cycling disciplines. Then Mathieu van der Poel, having earlier in the year been so dominant in the cobbled Classics, applied his skill to the gravel to win the men’s race by a huge margin of over a minute. 

Looking further back, it’s always been road riders who have taken the title, and even those without the multi-discipline experience of Vos and Van der Poel. In 2023, Kasia Niewiadoma claimed the title despite never having even ridden a gravel event before, and being very much a road race devotee. The men’s race went to Matej Mohorič, a rider who, despite having since embraced the format, was also at the time of his victory still a novice. Only in the inaugural edition of 2022 did a rider outside of the WorldTour take the title, when Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (then still on hiatus from the road) triumphed in the women’s race; and even she came to the event from a focus on mountain biking rather than the specific gravel events. The men’s race, meanwhile, was dominated by road specialists, with Gianni Vermeersch coming out on top. 

These results suggest that, while experience of riding off-road helps, it’s not essential for a shot at being crowned the gravel world champion. The success enjoyed here from likes of Vos, Van der Poel and Ferrand-Prévot show the benefit of being adept at multi disciplines, and they all utilised the skills and techniques picked up from racing in the likes of mountain biking and cyclo-cross to enjoy success on gravel too. But whereas the list of former champions does contain a few novices of gravel racing, there’s nobody who has managed to win the title purely off the back of a committed gravel campaign. Whatever advantages they might have picked up from experience in these races has not been enough to compete with the elite road-based WorldTour competitors.  

That’s largely down to the kind of route the UCI design for these championships. Perhaps with the intention of attracting the big stars, they’ve modified the extremes of other gravel races in order to cater to the road riders’ strengths, not wanting to put them off with something too far out of their comfort zones. The races at the worlds are neither as long nor as tricky in terms of road surfaces and gravel sections as many of the events on the UCI Gravel World Series and especially those based in America. 

This year’s edition is no exception. The setting of Limburg in the southern Netherlands is familiar as home of the Amstel Gold Race road Classic, and indeed the parcours is in many ways comparable. The 50km circuit that the men will rake on three and a half times and the women two and a half times features four short, punchy climbs, none lasting longer than 1.5km. There is a tricky climb over gravel that averages 8% after the circuits and on the approach to the finish in Maastricht, but that only lasts little more than a kilometre. And the races will in fact be considerably shorter than Amstel Gold, the men’s lasting a total of 180km and the women’s just 131km. 

One potentially complicating factor that could make things more difficult for the World Tour road riders is the weather. Taking place in mid October, we’re no longer really in the territory of the road calendar; the leaves have fallen, the sun hidden away, and there’s a greater chance of rainfall. Given the prominence of the gravel sectors, and how treacherous that can be when wet, that could swing things more in favour of those more used to and technically proficient on such surfaces. For now, though, the weather forecast for the weekend is for grey skies, but for rain not to materialise. 

So which rider should we be looking out for in the hunt for the medals? While reigning men’s champion Van Der Poel won't be returning to defend his title in front of home crowds, the women’s Dutch team looks formidable. Defending champion Marianne Vos will again line-up, alongside some of the nation's top road talents; notably Puck Pieterse, for whom this shouldn't be such a stretch given her success at mountain biking and cyclo-cross; and Lorena Wiebes, more of a novice on the gravel but with sensational form on the road. In addition to the likes of Shirin van Anrooij, Paulina Rooijakkers and Mischa Bredewold, the Dutch will be hard to contain. It'll be up to the likes of former champion Kasia Niewiadoma and Silvia Persico to try and stop them. 

The headline name on the men's start list is Tom Piddock, competing here for the first time having already claimed World titles in both mountain biking and cyclo-cross, as well as many successes on the road. That experience should hold him in good stead, even if he doesn't have any direct experience of riding the gravel circuit as the likes of Tim Wellens and former champion Matej Mohorič have. And it'll be fascinating to see if the world’s fastest sprinter on the road Tim Merlier can negotiate the gravel sections to remain in contention. 

And what of the gravel specialists? Many of those who have starred at the American gravel circuit will not be present, citing logistical reasons, clashes with other gravel events, and the unsuitability of the course as reasons. But the winner of the elite gravel title, Rosa Klöser, will be competing, on the back of a misfortune puncture that saw her drop out of contention while leading the European Championships recently. And in the men's race, Mathijs Loman will attract attention as one of the home Dutch contingent, and the likes of Jordan Habets, Mads Würtz Schmidt hope to replicate the victories they've managed on the gravel circuit this season. The odds might seem against them, but they'll relish the challenge of going up against their more famous colleagues of the World Tour.