Ferrand-Prévot takes the win atop the all-new BMC Kaius 01 aero gravel bike
(Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot claimed the inaugural Elite Women's World Gravel Championship on Sunday. Amazingly, it was her fourth world title of the year after her three in mountain bike cross country, short track and marathon events. She has previously held the title on the road and in cyclo-cross too.
Ferrand-Prévot sprinted to the win on the recently-launched BMC Kaius 01 One gravel bike, which sits firmly at the racing end of the gravel bike spectrum and takes aero cues and technology from elsewhere in the BMC range. We take a dive into the spec and tech details of the bike.
The French multidisciplinarian was aboard BMC's top-tier option; the Kaius 01 One, in a 47cm frame. (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
The BMC Kaius 01 frame was released in late September and was ridden by several BMC athletes at the Gravel World Championships.
You can't miss the familiar BMC styling, and the Kaius 01 features aero integration and the same aero bottle cages found on BMC's road models, like the TeamMachine, but with wider clearances for tyres of up to 44mm widths.
Slammed would be an understatement; in this 47cm frame, the drops are almost in line with the front tyre (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
Ferrand-Prévot rode a size 47cm frame with the integrated cockpit pretty much slammed with no spacers under the stem. The Kaius 01 One model looks only to come in the white/black colourway pictured currently but don't be surprised to see a custom paint job for the world champion next year.
The finishing kit for the frame is partly included in the frame 'module' from BMC. An ICS carbon fibre aero cockpit takes care of the steering, with the setup featuring full internal brake hose integration for a super clean front end. The bars are only available in one width across all stem lengths, flaring from 36cm at the tops to 42cm wide at the drops. The seatpost is the Kaius 01 D-shaped carbon fibre post which is frame specific and features a 15mm offset. The frame also comes with BMC Aerocore bottle cages.
A 1x SRAM Red eTap AXS XPLR groupset, complete with 40T chainring and 10-44 cassette. (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
The groupset fitted to the bike is a SRAM Red eTap 1x wireless electronic affair, with what looks to be a SRAM Red AXS XPLR gravel derailleur which can accommodate a 44-tooth rear cassette. Ferrand-Prévot's bike was fitted with a 40-tooth narrow wide chainring for the race.
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The 40-tooth chainring was held in place with a Quarq power meter (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
The crankset is carbon fibre with a Quarq power meter unit. The design of the crank arm looks a little different to anything on the SRAM website, with large SRAM lettering instead of the more subtle silver logo found on most options. This was also spotted on Mads Pedersen's bike at the Tour de France and could be a pro-only unit from the athlete-only 'blackbox' project. Ferrand-Prévot has had similar blackbox cranks on her mountain bikes this year also.
Vittoria Terreno Dry tyres are fast-rolling with an almost-slick centre tread. They are fitted to Duke wheels. (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
Wheels are taken care of by Duke Racing, a french company hand making all of its wheels and rims in-house. They are fitted with Vittoria Terreno Dry gravel tyres in a 35mm width, set up tubeless. Prologo takes care of the handlebar tape and saddle.
How do you deal with an out-front computer mount and a front-mounted number board? Get out the scissors, of course. (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
Finally, possibly due to her size 47cm frame having too short of a headtube, Ferrand-Prévot's mechanics didn't wrap her race number around her headtube, an aero gain employed by many riders, instead zip tying it around the bars, they did make a neat cutout for her computer though so her view wasn't interrupted.
Dust and sweat remain on the top tube after the race (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
Clearance on the Kaius 01 allows for 44mm tyres... (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
...so the 35mm Vittoria tyres posed no problems (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
In all its glory, the Ferrand-Prevot's Kaius 01 stands proud in front of the walled city of Cittadella, where the race finished. (Image credit: BMC / Phil Gale)
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Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as tech writer. Tom has over 10 years experience as a qualified mechanic with 5 or so of those being spent running an independent workshop. Tom has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track and has ridden and competed in most disciplines, even the odd bit of bike polo. Tom is as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike exploring the Worcestershire lanes.
