Florian Vermeersch (Belgium) came into the Nannup UCI Gravel World Championships with a perfect podium record and as defending champion, and when he was coming toward the finish line with four riders, it looked like there was every chance he would spend another year in the rainbow stripes.
That was even despite the challenge of a climb-heavy course, with 3,713 vertical metres of climbing across 144km, which in theory should have worked against the WorldTour Classics specialist who races for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
"It was super tough," Vermeersch told Cyclingnews after going to the podium to accept his third silver medal at the UCI Gravel World Championships.
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"I knew if I wanted to go for a good result today, I had to just follow the whole day and not waste any energy because, yeah, a guy of my weight is at a bit of a disadvantage on the climbs, and I think actually until the last kilometre, I did the perfect race."
That perfectly played race, where he kept finding his way back to the front, even though there were times when he looked to be battling on the climbs, left him heading toward the line with fellow WorldTour professional Connor Swift, with the rider from Britain racing for Netcompany Ineos on the road, Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark) and compatriot Magnus Bak Klaris. Neither of the gravel specialists were noted sprinters.
That meant Vermeersch had made it seamlessly through all the territory that was expected to leave him on the back foot, and now all he had to deliver in an area which was within his comfort zone, the sprint.
"I was actually pretty confident I could do a good sprint. I sprinted for the win a few weeks ago in Belgium," he said, referring to the Flandrien 0.0 Classic where he came third in a tight battle to the line. "And I felt after a hard race, my sprint was still quite okay."
Though gravel is nothing if not unpredictable and it was the rider who most probably least expected who won the day, Bak Klaris.
"In the sprint, I made a small mistake by being on the wrong side of the wheel of the winner," said Vermeersch. "But he deserves all the credit, he was super strong all day, so he deserves to win."
The victory may have eluded Vermeersch this year, even though he came ever so close with second, despite the climbing on the course testing his limits, though next year there is the potential that the terrain of the Gravel World Championships could take it to even another level. Gravel will be part of the multi-discipline Haute-Savoie Mont-Blanc World Championships and the race starts in Châtel, in the heart of the Chablais mountains. So will he be back to try and hit the podium five years running?
"Next year is in the French Alps with a lot of climbing, probably so I think that will be a different a different kind of race," said Vermeersch. "But we'll see. First, I want to see the course, and then we'll make a decision for next year."
His more immediate cycling plans, however, are clear. It's back to the road with UAE Team Emirates to race the Tour of Guangxi.
"Tonight I'm flying to China," said Vermeersch. "There I go back to full domestique mode. We have Jhonny Narváez for GC. We have [Juan Sebastián] Molano for the sprints. So I think I'm in for a pretty fun week.
"It's my first time in China, and I look forward to it. It's also the last week of the season, and one of my goals actually always is to finish the season on a high with a good level. I think it's fair to say that's the case also this year. So, yeah, I'm quite happy and looking forward to next week."
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