Marianne Vos delivered a shocking win for the Dutch workforce in opposition to residence favorite Lotte Kopecky on the UCI Gravel World Championships in Leuven, whereas turning into the primary rider to win a race utilizing modern self-inflating tyres.
The two riders rode away from the sphere with a bit of below 50km remaining and dramatically outpaced the chase group of pre-race contenders similar to Puck Pieterse and Lorena Wiebes.
After what was broadly thought of a misfire on the Road World Championships the place the Dutch workforce discovered itself completely off the rostrum, taking first and third on the UCI’s gravel counterpart can be a partial comfort.
Surprisingly, although, Vos engaged in some uncommon technical experimentation with the race – equipping her bike with the Gravaa KAPS adjustable tyre system which allowed her to regulate her tyre stress to match the terrain in the course of the race.
For a gravel race the place pivotal assaults can come both on off-road and cobbled terrain or clean paved roads, the advantage of customising your tyre stress to both floor is clear.
Speaking to Cyclingnews after her victory, she confirmed that she continuously used the system in the course of the race, and thought of it to assist her en path to victory.
“It helped with greater stress on the end but additionally with decreasing the stress on rougher observe,” she stated.
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The similar expertise was deployed at Paris-Roubaix in 2023 by Visma-Lease a Bike, however then was used solely by the lads’s workforce and to no notable profit, with Wout van Aert not utilizing the system himself, and ending in third place.
For the workforce and model, this can be a shocking endorsement of the technical benefit that might be on supply. When requested whether or not she would use the expertise in races subsequent 12 months, Vos confirmed that she would proceed utilizing it for this type of racing.
Keeping up with Kopecky
For Vos the method of successful a World Championship jersey could have change into a bit of repetitive, with this representing the fourteenth title on her palmares.
“I did not take into consideration the earlier 13, to be trustworthy. Of course, [Gravel World Championship]’s one thing pretty new, however then it is a world championship so that you attempt to do your greatest,” she stated to broadcasters after the race end.
“It was good to be within the entrance with Lotte,” she added. “And then it is gonna be arduous as properly. She gained [Road Worlds] final week so I knew she’s in good condition.”
Speaking to Cyclingnews after the race, Vos defined that she entered the race with an open thoughts. “I did not have actual expectations, as a result of I did not actually know what to anticipate,” she stated. “Halfway by means of the race, we had been nonetheless with such an enormous group that I believed, okay, whoa, that is such a star backfield that it is gonna be arduous to interrupt away right here.”
It was Kopecky’s transfer which shredded that bigger group. “When Lotte Kopecky went, we had been first with the 4 of us,” Vos stated. “Then later we had been with the 2 of us, after which it was nonetheless a protracted method to go. But yeah, in fact, it is a unbelievable companion in case you have Lotte Kopecky with you.”
Attacks had been traded between the 2 all through the ultimate kilometres, and Vos made a significant transfer on the 300m Ramberg climb with lower than 2km remaining, but it surely wasn’t sufficient to shed her Belgian breakaway companion.
It turned apparent that the race would come right down to a dash between two of the game’s most succesful riders. It was hesitation from Kopecky, although, which opened the door for Vos.
“I used to be truly pondering, okay, she wasn’t actually going,” Vos instructed Cyclingnews. “So I believed: Okay, I must go and simply go all in if I’m going. So with like 175 meters to go, I simply went for it and went all out to the end, after which I nonetheless wasn’t certain, however simply saved going.
“With 15 meters in the past, I believed, Okay, I feel I’ve it.”
For Vos, the Gravel World Championship title represents a superb finish to the season, and the Dutch rider is already trying ahead to a slower tempo. “It’s low season, so I’ll simply take pleasure in a bit of little bit of relaxation,” she stated. “Enjoy some good household time. And yeah, for certain, I’m gonna loosen up a bit of and luxuriate in this.”
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