As it happened: Vos' victory at Gravel World Championships

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the elite women's race at the UCI Gravel World Championships.

It's the third edition of the Gravel Worlds... not the original Gravel Worlds, but the World Championships of gravel according to the UCI, which for spirited gravel purists may still feel like sacrilege but the event is now in its third year and has established itself to the point where it's attracting a bigger and better field than ever before. I'm not quite sure where we're up to in the debate over what gravel is or indeed should be, but we've got a great start list, plenty of unpaved roads, and a rainbow jersey up for grabs. Let's get on with it. 

No Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland) here today, as last year's world champ has decided to eschew a title defence and end her season. Likewise, the first gravel world champion, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (France) is not here, so we'll have a first-time world champ by the end of the day. Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) is a huge name on the start list, the home favourite looking to double up on rainbows after winning the road race crown for a second consecutive year just a week ago. The Dutch have an eye-watering line-up with Marianne Vos, Puck Pieterse, Lorena Wiebes, Fem van Empel, and Lucinda Brand (to name a few), but how much will team tactics really matter on the gravel?

You'll notice we've mainly named top road pros so far, and there is a notable lack of pure gravel riders, giving this a very Euro feel and a suspicion that it may play out rather like a road race. 

Anyway, the start is coming up at 12:00 local time, so just around the corner.

We start in Halle today before making our way over to Leuven, scene of the 2021 Road Worlds. That will take around 80km, before they reach the finish line and embark on a 50km finishing circuit through the Forests of Brabant south of the city. It's said that around 60% of the course is unpaved, and it's classic Belgian fare, littered with short punchy climbs. 

We're off

The riders have rolled out of Halle and the race is underway. 

Precious little in-race information coming through right now as we await television broadcast to begin. We do, however, have this scoop from the start, where CN editor Peter Stuart has spotted that Marianne Vos is using an adjustable tyre pressure system. 

Marianne Vos uses self-inflating tyres at Gravel World Championships

And we also grabbed a word with Vos at the start

"It's nice to have your teammates here that you know from all year round," she said of their being three other Dutch Visma-Lease a Bike riders in the field (Fem van Empel, Riejanne Markus, and Femke de Vries). @Of course you are going to try to help each other if possible. 

"In the end, it will also be a race of attrition and we will see what we can do. I have to do a good race, stay out of trouble. It's difficult to predict how things will unfold, how I will be. I feel good. We want to try and be with some Dutchies in the final."

The first live timing checkpoint comes after 16 kilometres and we can see that the race is still bunched up. Luxembourg's Christine Majerus was the first rider through the checkpoint but no breakaway and no big splits in the field in the early stages.

For a more detailed run-through of the faovurites for the rainbow jersey today, we have you covered. 

Who will win the 2024 Gravel World Championships? Analysing the contenders

The first photos are coming through now. Here they are alongside the water in Halle in the opening kilometres.

And here we can see the Dutch looking to use their numbers to be a controlling force in the race.

11 riders in the lead

At the second checkpoint after 40km we have a selection, with 11 riders enjoying a small advantage. It's a high-class group that contains Kopecky and Vos. 

Here's the full list of riders in the lead group

Puck Pieterse (Netherlands)

Marianne Vos (Netherlands) 

Lucinda Brand (Netherlands)

Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands)

Letizia Borghesi (Italy)

Soraya Paladin (Italy)

Marie Schreiber (Luxembourg)

Christine Majerus (Luxembourg) 

Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)

Romy Kasper (Germany)

Emma Norsgaard (Denmark)

Elena Cecchini (Italy) was just off the back of that group, while the rest of the field is fragmented but not spread out at all, so the situation is still fluid as it stands.

You may have noticed we've been spending a fair bit of time in the lab recently. Well, our most recent deep dive is into tyres, and we've put 24 models to the test in our latest member-exclusive feature. Check it out:

Lab tested: Which road bike tyres are the fastest?

There has been a regrouping and we now have over 40 riders at the head of the race after just over 50km.

Most of the big names are still in the main lead bunch but one notable absentee is Tiffany Cromwell (Australia), who's a minute off the pace. 

Christine Majerus there on the front - she's been an active presence so far. She's the unsung domestique behind much of SD Worx's success over the past decade but has the rare chance to race for herself here in the colours of Luxembourg. 

We're coming towards Leuven now so let's take a look at our finishing circuit, which measures almost 50km and heads into the Brabant Forest. Plenty of technical stuff, and some rolling and punchy stuff but it's not a hilly course. 

Here was Kopecky looking to force a selection a little earlier.

Four in the lead

Kopecky, Vos, Wiebes, and Paladin have gone clear! Strong quartet.

Those four have a 20-second gap over a chasing trio of Puck Pieterse (Netherlands), Romy Kasper (Germany), and Nicole Frain (Australia). Another half a minute back to a main bunch of 30-odd riders.

Wiebes had a rear flat a little earlier and dismounted to reach for her CO2 before thinking better of it and remounting. There's no mechanical assistance from team cars like you'd have in a road race so in the event of punctures riders will have to hope their tubeless tyres seal themselves, or be prepared to fix any issues themselves. 

Here's a shot of the leading quartet - Paladin, Vos, Kopecky, Wiebes.

Two in the lead

It's all change, though, as Kopecky and Vos have forged ahead, dropping Wiebes and Paladin. Wiebes is alone in the chase in third place.

Replays show Wiebes ripping clear of Paladin on a farm track. While the Italian was stuck in the rough gravel trench, the Dutchwoman found a smooth strip of dirt in the middle of the raised grassy strip through the middle. 

Into Leuven now and we have a sharp cobbled climb to throw into the mix. Kopecky and Vos still leading.

These roads are familiar from the 2021 Road Worlds, and indeed this finishing gravel circuit is familiar from the European gravel championships in recent years.

47km remaining

Vos and Kopecky come into the home straight on the tarmac in the magnificent centre of Leuven, and they cross the finish line for the first time, before taking on this circuit. What is their advantage?

It's just over 45 seconds, as Wiebes comes through alone next. 

And 15 seconds later we have the next four, with Paladin dropping back to join Pieterse, Frain, and Kasper. 

The main peloton comes to the finish line now ahead of the Leuven circuit, and they are pretty much out of the equation now, at almost four minutes down on the front of the race.

Wiebes is dropping back to the chase group and now she slots into it to make it a five-woman group. Wiebes is one of two Dutchwoman along with Pieterse, and they have Vos up the road, albeit in the company of a massively dangerous rider in Kopecky.

We have an extended portion of tarmac here before we head into the Forest of Brabant where this race will be settled.

The gap between the two leaders and the five chasers has expanded on the first part of this finishing circuit. It's 1:38 now with a shade under 40km left to race, and it's hard to see that coming back. 

Kopecky sits up and stretches out her lower back - she's done that on a couple of occasions now. She's on a different bike to the one she has used all road season. 

35km to go

The gap is only going one way and as it hits 2:12 back to the five chasers, it would seem like this has been reduced to a two-horse race between two big hitters in Kopecky and Vos. 

Vos has won a lot of rainbow jerseys in her career - 13 in fact, across road, cyclo-cross, and track. This would add an astonishing 14th and yet another dimension to a palmares that was already the best-of-all-time a long time ago but still keeps getting new features even in Vos' late 30s. 

Vos rode a couple of gravel events last season, even winning the UCI World Series round in Sweden, but while she's not so experienced in the discipline her off-road bike handling cannot be questioned, as an eight-time world 'cross champion.

Kopecky, meanwhile, is a total newcomer to gravel, and hardly has any cyclo-cross experience. However, she thrives in the gritty, rough cobbled Classics, having won both Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. She is the world champion on the road and has multiple titles from the track so would also be set to become a true multi-disciplinarian world champion.

Kopecky puts the squeeze on Vos as they come out of the woods and through the open fields. I'm not sure she realises or is even trying to make a move, but Vos is just hanging back a touch now. 

The gap rises to three minutes over the five chasers, and at least another minute back to the bunch. So it's well and truly a two-horse race now.

On that really rough section where Vos held back off Kopecky, Pieterse is forcing the issue in the chase and forcing some small cracks between them.

Frain is dangling off the back of the chase group as the road grinds uphill on cobbles and then rough stones.

The leading duo - Vos in orange, Kopecky in Belgian blue

Frain has been dropped as Pieterse continues to apply the pressure in the chase. At nearly four-minutes back, though, it's not so much a chase as a separate race for bronze, and Pieterse's teammate Wiebes is one of the fastest sprinters in the world (as well as being the European gravel champ).

Another stretch of the back from Kopecky.

Pieterse turns her pressure into an attack. Kasper had flicked her elbow asking for a turn and Pieterse casually sipped from her bidon before responding with an acceleration. Kasper can't get anyone else to come through so then has to chase back Pieterse.

Paladin is playing it cool at the back while Wiebes is sitting pretty while Pieterse roughs them up. It's a good situation for the Dutch back there, but up the road Vos has a Kopecky-shaped headache... the pair are well-matched in a sprint but will either be able to get away solo?

Vos attacks!

A flat section of smooth gravel through the trees and Vos gives it a seated squeeze. Kopecky is perhaps caught off guard as the gap opens but gets back on terms.

The pair of them weave through the dried-out muddy pits that pepper this woodland path. Kopecky has come through to the front again.

This forest trail is dappled with light as the sun sneaks in through the trees. It's a lightly technical challenge to find the smooth lines amid the mud. 

Wiebes hits the front of the second group and Pieterse lets the wheel go, once again forcing an acceleration out of Kasper. The German is an agitated and perhaps over-willing presence, in sharp contrast to Paladin, who is almost nonchalantly glued to the back of the group. 

17.5km to go

We're getting towards the business end now and we've seen a couple of small gaps between our leading duo thanks to minor accelerations, but no all-out hostilities as of yet.

A short climb coming up now - will either of them use it?

Onto some tarmac now, where the climb begins.

They turn left off the road and onto a smooth gravel surface. The climb measures 500 metres at a modest gradient.

Kopecky has the lead. Vos springs from the saddle behind but it's all calm between them still.

It was nice to believe Paladin was playing one big bluff but alas, she was being brutally honest that she was struggling, as she's now been dropped from the second group. Three left there: Pieterse, Wiebes, Kasper.

The gap between the two leaders and the three chasers stands at 4:15. Vos and Kopecky don't need to worry about anyone behind but they're not attacking each other, and instead look content to ride this into the finish together and settle it in a sprint.

The chasing trio are fighting for bronze and Kasper finds herself with the odds stacked against her, finding herself in the company of two world-class Dutchwomen, who have already been working her over and will no doubt continue to do so.

Wiebes attacks!

Towards the top of that climb the Dutch pair do start to attack Kasper and it's the sprint star who goes clear as Pieterse sucks the wheel of the German.

Pieterse was in the wheel of Wiebes when she made that move and it wasn't like she let her sail clear - it was a strong move and separation from Wiebes but Kasper is clawing her back. What a ride the German is having here - she's done so much work already. 

9km to go

The leading duo are back on a tarmac stretch and still turning through together. 

A couple of flicks of the elbow from Kopecky and on the third occasion Vos comes through for a turn. Are the games finally beginning?

7km

Into the woods again for a snaking section that sees the TV moto come a cropper. 

This is the last stretch of gravel before we re-enter Leuven in the final 3km, where one final difficulty awaits in the form of the Ramberg, a short sharp climb where we should see some sort of acceleration from the front two. A short section through a city park marks the final bit of gravel ahead of the tarmacked final kilometre and the finish on the wide boulevard of the Bondgenotenlaan.

5km to go

Vos and Kopecky continue to trade turns, with the gap stable at 4:20.

Back onto the tarmac and into the city we go. Vos lets the pace drop and Kopecky picks it up.

They wind through a park now that will take them into the centre of the city.

In the second group, Kasper is still with Wiebes and Pieterse, who look to have stopped attacking her. Wiebes would surely take bronze in a sprint.

Onto normal roads now and we're moments away from the Ramberg climb. 

This is the final 3km and they'll take a right-hander onto the climb. Will either of them make a move here?

Here we go... Kopecky leads Vos onto the Ramberg

Vos attacks!

It's a narrow cobbled climb and Vos rips away. She gets a gap but Kopecky gets back on terms, and even muscles through to the front.

Psychological blow landed by Kopecky, who takes them into the park.

Smooth gravel here in this almost token stretch through the park. Vos follows and this will now be settled in a sprint.

We're in the final kilometre now and they come out of the park and a couple of turns will take them onto the home straight.

Vos has set up shop in Kopecky's wheel and doesn't look like she'll budge from there.

Kopecky slows it down and now brings them onto the home straight. Here we go!

Kopecky looks calm on the front. It's slow.

The looks over the shoulder grow a little more anxious. 200 to go...

Vos launches it from a slow speed

And Vos takes it!!

Kopecky sits up in the short sprint and Vos sails away to take win the Gravel World Championship!! 

Rainbow jersey number 14 for Marianne Vos, in her fourth different discipline.

In the fight for bronze, the chasing trio hit the Ramberg... and Kasper is dropped by the Dutch pair.

Wiebes has dropped Pieterse over the top of the Ramberg and is cruising home for bronze. 

Pieterse makes it a 1-3-4 for the Netherlands, as Kasper comes home just behind to take fourth place - no medal but a hugely creditable ride from the German.

Nearly 10 minutes down on the winner, the first main bunch comes home, and it's a Dutchwoman who leads them home. They were questioned after Road Worlds but they've dominated proceedings today.

Let's hear from the winner

"I didn't think about the previous 13 [world titles] to be honest. It's something fairly new but it's a World Championship so you try to do your best. It was nice to be in the front with Lotte, then you know it's going to be hard as well. She won [Road Worlds] last week so I knew she's in good shape. It was really great to race together here, especially with those crowds."

And now Kopecky speaks

"It's no shame to be second behind Marianne. It was my first gravel race and it was something completely different. It was fun but when I was alone with Marianne my lower back was exploding. I tried to get the tension away but it was horrible.

"[In the sprint] I should have done it differently but with Marianne you are never sure. I should have started a bit earlier, I think."

Results

1. Marianne Vos (Netherlands) 04:01:08

2. Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) +00:00:01

3. Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) +00:03:57

4. Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) +00:04:09

5. Romy Kasper (Germany)  +00:04:15

6. Soraya Paladin (Italy) +00:06:00

7. Riejanne Markus (Netherlands) +00:06:04

8. Femke Markus (Netherlands) +00:08:52

9. Emma Norsgaard (Denmark) +00:08:52

10. Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) +00:08:53

Make that 6 in the top 10 for the Dutch.

We can now hear from the bronze medallist, Wiebes

"I'm quite happy with that. I didn't have the best legs today. Lotte made it quite hard, so there was quite some suffering. I ended up between the groups but decided to wait for the group behind me so that was nice. Lotte did a bit too much effort on a climb so I had a bad moment. I was with Paladin then felt my legs coming back so I attacked and was in between for a while, but then I was in the group with Puck so it was a nice day."

Vos heads onto the podium to collect her gold medal. She'll soon be pulling on the 14th rainbow jersey of her career.

Here's the list of Vos' 14 world titles

2006 - Cyclo-Cross, Road Race

2008 - Track (points race)

2009 - Cyclo-Cross

2010 - Cyclo-Cross

2011 - Cyclo-Cross, Track (scratch race)

2012 - Cyclo-Cross, Road Race

2013 - Cyclo-Cross, Road Race

2014 - Cyclo-Cross 

2022 - Cyclo-Cross

2024 - Gravel

The finish line shot

Race report, results, and photos in the link below

UCI Gravel World Championships: Marianne Vos overpowers Kopecky to seize elite women's title