Particulars on the race routes via Treviso for the 2023 UCI Gravel World Championships, October 7-8, have been disclosed by the UCI and recently-appointed occasion organiser Pedali di Marca. Considerably extra climbing has been added this yr for an elite males’s 169km route and 140km for elite ladies, each tracks departing from Lago Le Bandie and together with end circuits at Pieve di Soligo.
A mix of surfaces characteristic 9 key climbs for the elite males with 1,900 metres of elevation acquire. Although 25 kilometres shorter than the inaugural version of the lads’s race, the course on Sunday has greater than doubled the numbers for climbing this day out. The space stays the identical for elite ladies, who return the day prior over comparable terrain with eight key climbs including to 1,660 metres of elevation acquire. The combination of white gravel roads and unpaved surfaces is anticipated to comprise near 50% of each routes.
“It is going to be a really demanding race, and with gravel roads and climbs I count on large gaps among the many riders. I would not be stunned in the event that they arrive on the end line one by one, additionally as a result of on roads like these it takes nice method simply to remain on the wheel or keep within the group,” mentioned course designer Massimo Panighel, who serves as president of Pedali di Marca.
Final yr, the inaugural races have been held on relatively-flat programs interspersed with single observe, gravel and asphalt in Veneto between Vicenza and Cittadella. Far totally different than the off-road racing in North America with relentless climbing and rugged, rocky paths, earlier organisers PP Sport Occasions supplied solely 700 metres of elevation acquire for the ladies and 800 metres for the lads, with each fields finishing brief end circuits just like a highway race.
The primary foray into gravel for the UCI noticed Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France) outsprint Sina Frei (Switzerland), each mountain bikers, for the ladies’s rainbow jersey, whereas Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium) led a pack of 9 WorldTour highway stars throughout the road for the lads’s title.
Only a few weeks in the past the UCI introduced a change in race organisers, naming Pedali di Marca because the lead group, with plans on a very redrawn course in Treviso.
All fields start with a lap on a mud highway round Lake Le Bandie in Spresiano. The opening 30km consists of the longest stretch of grime, 21 km alongside the Piave River, as riders will slot into positions for the primary climb of the day on a 3.8km Collalto hill with 3.9% common gradient.
Onerous-packed white roads then result in the center of the Prosecco hills in Pieve di Soligo, the place the route will move two occasions for various circuits after which a remaining time for the end. The primary loop, which is roughly 60km for elite males and 45km for elite ladies, strikes in a clockwise circuit with a paved climb at Arfanta (3.7 km at 4.3%) adopted by Nogarolo (700 metres at 11.6%) and Ca’ del Poggio (1.2 km at 12.2%). The lads’s route swings vast to soak up the Formeniga (1.2km at 6.2%).
The second clockwise circuit, this time to the west, takes in off-road sectors of Patean and Palù di Sernaglia for all fields, with the lads’s route together with additional kilometres via Isola dei Morti.
The ultimate 25km of each programs pack in the identical quartet of ultimate climbs. The ascent of San Vigilio is just 300 metres lengthy however at 16.5% is a stiff problem. It leads on to the ascents of Le Serre (3.4 km at 7%) and Le Tenade (900 metres at 3.9%). After the ultimate 3.9km climb of the Collagù (5.1%), a pointy descent results in cobblestones in Pieve di Soligo for the end at Piazza Balbi Valier.
The elite ladies will kick off competitions on the 140km course at 10:30 a.m. CET on Saturday, with beginner males’s age teams 50-54, 55-59 and 60-64 adopted by beginner ladies’s age teams, 19-34, 35-39, 40-44 and 45-49, setting off three minutes later in staggered intervals. The 65-plus males and 50-plus ladies classes will compete on a 100km route. The elite males start at 10:30 a.m. CET on Sunday, forward of beginner males’s age teams 19-34, 35-39, 40-44 and 45-49 on the identical course in two-minute interval begins following.
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