Britain’s Connor Swift poured chilly water over his head after ending third within the UCI Gravel World Championships, admitting it was one of many hardest race days he has ever skilled.
“I believe so…” the British Ineos Grenadiers rider instructed Cyclingnews and different media with fatigue, after crossing the end line in Pieve di Soligo after virtually 5 hours and 167.7 km of racing.
“I believed I used to be on an excellent day however it was full fuel when the three of us received away. Then they dropped me far out and so I went as deep as I may to get a medal. I’m nailed however I’m proud of third.”
“It was a selective race early on, because of the single observe elements and the excessive speeds. It was an excellent robust day. After I was dropped I may push a excessive fixed energy however by no means greater than 500 watts to carry them on the climbs.”
In Could Swift received the Gralloch gravel race in Scotland, which is a part of the UCI Gravel World Sequence. He’s a part of Ineos Grenadiers Classics squad and sometimes opts to coach his gravel bike when at dwelling.
His bronze medal and efficiency in Italy proved he has a number of abilities past simply WorldTour highway racing. He hopes to do extra gravel racing sooner or later.
“It’s good to combine up the disciplines. It’s good for our sponsors and the game. Gravel is creating rapidly and it’s good enjoyable,” he stated.
“I need to be a various sort of rider, somebody who can do effectively on the highway, gravel and something in between.”
Swift has maybe to nonetheless totally embrace the spirit of gravel. As an alternative of ingesting a beer with different riders past the end space, he dashed from the race to the airport for a night flight dwelling, admitting his solely after-party and finish of season celebration could be an enormous block of Toblerone chocolate on the aircraft.