It is set to be a fiercely contested fourth edition of the Belgian Gravel National Championships, with a mix of gravel regulars and road riders joining the fray for the race from Grobbendonk on Sunday August 16.
Wout van Aert will be among those lining up, with the Visma-Lease a Bike racer venturing into gravel again after winning the UCI Gravel World Series race Marly Gravel in May. His focus will soon be on the road again, though, at the upcoming Vuelta a España.
Van Aert will have plenty of competition in the national title chase as among those set to line up in the elite men's field are defending champion Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team), Tim Merlier (Soudal QuickStep), who was third at the event last year, along with gravel regulars Greg van Avermaet and Daan Soete (Ridley Racing) who is fresh from winning Heathland Gravel on Sunday.
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Elite women's defending champion Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Premier Tech) will be back, as will last year's runner- up and teammate Lotte Claes, who in June claimed the national time trial title. The 2024 gravel champion Alana Castrique (AG Insurance-Soudal) will also be on the start line, as will road and cyclocross racer Julie Brouwers.
The men's elite race will be run over 163.2km, three laps of the course that starts and finishes in Grobbendonk while the elite women's race takes in two laps for 108.8km.
The national title holders also qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships, to be held in Nannup, Western Australia on October 10 and 11. Before that, however, is the European Gravel Championships on August 30, which will be in Houffalize.
The Belgian Championships are among the growing number of nations to hold a national title race for gravel with Jasper Stuyven and Truyen claiming the first titles in 2023. Then in 2024 Castrique was joined by Gianni Vermeersch – the first gravel world champion in 2022.
A livestream of this year's race will also be available on Pickx.
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