'It's gonna look like a road race with a lot of fighting for position' - Romain Bardet extends season at UCI Gravel World Championships

Romain Bardet lines up for France at a seventh World Championships on Sunday, this time swapping the road for gravel.

He's only been a 'gravel racer' for just nine weeks, so is still in his infancy compared to the 14 years in the professional peloton which he brought to a close in June.

Last year Bardet considered retirement, then extended his contract with Picnic-PostNL through 2025. The plan was always to ride his 18th and final Grand Tour at the Giro d'Italia and bid farewell at the Criterium du Dauphinè. Adieu to the road, though, opened the door to gravel.

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"It was a discipline that I have a lot of interest in, but I had to wait until I really stopped on the road to realise that," Bardet explained to Cyclingnews on his drive from France to the Netherlands for the UCI Gravel World Championships and the elite men's race on Sunday.

"In the last few races that I did, even the guys from the WorldTour were up there in the top 10. But sometimes they were not the strongest of the field, you know. So it's quite still a bit different.

"I was also impressed by the efforts you have to put in to be in the front of the race. This is something that I like, because it is basically almost full gas straight from the gun."

He originally targeted the chance to ride the UCI Gravel World Championships on home soil, when the 2025 event was planned to take place in Nice, France. When the championships switched venues in the spring to the Netherlands, he continued with his plan to try gravel after road retirement, just needing to piece the puzzle together by performing well at qualifier events or earn a wildcard from the national federation.

"I've been really lucky to be in such a good team that really understands my needs. For the last couple of years, I've been thinking about retirement," he told Cyclingnews.

"So when I called my team principal, Iwan Spekenbrink, about doing 2025, or not, they really made a super nice schedule for me to race an extra Giro and finish my career where I wanted at the Dauphine, and then a switch and ride for the team on gravel."

"I think it's been really smooth, and that's why I am still a member of the team, but with also a bit more freedom in terms of my programme. I took my chance to line up to some events."

That 'chance' paid dividends with two wins in four UCI Gravel World Series qualifier races - he was 10th in the first in Sweden at Gravel Grit 'n Grind, then followed that up with wins at La Monsterrato in Italy and 66 Degrés Sud-Le Gravel in France, after which came a fifth place at Sea Otter Europe Girona.

He said each race had its own character and challenges, with La Monsterrato reminding him of a Classics race and 66 Degree Sud offering the climbing he recalled from stage racing.

"The one in the French Pyrenees in September, sometimes the climbs of six or seven kilometres long, with altitude, it really reminds me of a breakaway day for winning a stage of a Grand Tour. You are really on your own fighting against 25 or 30-minute efforts," the former KOM winner of the Tour de France said.

Bardet was known for his attacking style, which brought him a fourth stage victory at the Tour de France in 2024 on a hilly day, and with it a yellow jersey for the first time in his career.

"Personally, you know, I stepped out of the road racing because I wanted to have more freedom. And I'm not racing global for championships. In the Netherlands this year, I'm happy to come. I'm here to enjoy riding my bike."

Worlds Course and Competition

Bardet thought the route planned for southern Limberg on Sunday, 180km with 1,650 meters of climbing, would be hilly enough to create splits in the peloton, but that the riders with full road programmes in their legs would have an advantage. Furthemore, the Belgian and Dutch teams return to another UCI Gravel Worlds with the largest men's squads - Belgium with 43 qualified riders and the Netherlands with 39.

"I know I'm not gonna be as sharp and as good as some guys like [Tom] Pidcock and probably Tim Wellens, because they are super good drivers, among the best in the world. So I think physically, it can be hard to really match them," said the two-time Tour de France podium finisher.

"But I hope to be on the front, because there will be a full contingent of Belgium and Dutch riders. I don't have super high expectations, because for me, it's more likely gonna look like a road race with a lot of fighting for position and stuff.

"But I'm up for the fight. You only enjoy the day if you're in front," he said with a wry laugh.

A dozen elite men qualified for UCI Gravel Worlds, including French gravel champion Hugo Drechou, who has a long list of gravel successes, including wins at Oregon Trail Gravel, Gravel Mexico, World Series stop Alpine Gravel Challenge and La Bescanonina Gravel in the past two years. He's also appeared at Unbound Gravel 200 twice finishing top 20 both times.

Bardet admitted he had met him through road racing two years ago. This year they have had several head-to-head battles on gravel, Drechou taking the French national title in a sprint ahead of Bardet, then the Picnic rider going one better at 66 Degrès Sud.

"The first time I met him was two years ago, when we were racing this massive event in France. I found myself the day after Lombardia with him the front, and they also already looked pretty strong. I think he won the race that day. And since then, yeah, he is making a living from [gravel]. He's pretty strong."

Does Bardet plan to keep racing gravel into next year? He really wasn't ready to plan that far ahead yet.

"Yeah, that's a possibility. I mean, I only started in August this year and I missed some of the biggest events. I would definitely like to do a bit more, but I don't take it as the continuity of my career, or a second one. I'm [here] just for fun.

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