Kasia Niewiadoma, who has stood on the rostrum of a number of the hardest occasions on the ladies’s highway calendar, might have shot straight to the highest step within the gravel world however has been fast to spotlight that it has been no straightforward trip to the entrance of the pack.
“I really feel like listening to about gravel beforehand I used to be like oh, candy we’ll simply trip for lengthy after which loosen up and have enjoyable nevertheless it’s insanely arduous,” Niewiadoma stated after claiming victory at Huge Sugar Gravel in Bentonville. “I really feel like each single roadie ought to know that as a result of I do know at some factors we had been like ‘oh, gravel is for individuals who don’t need wish to actually race’ nevertheless it could be the alternative.”
Niewiadoma, who has stood on the general podium of each the Giro d’Italia Donne and Tour de France Femmes, solely stepped into gravel racing earlier this month, after noting how a lot the World Championships course performed to her strengths. It was a savvy alternative, as though it was simply her first race within the self-discipline she claimed the rainbow jersey and her first UCI win since 2019.
The 104 mile (168km) Huge Sugar, as her second race on the unpaved roads of the rising self-discipline, launched her to one more distinct model of gravel racing. It took the Canyon-SRAM Girls’s WorldTour rider from the not too long ago launched UCI incarnation of the self-discipline – the place the World Championships additionally entice a discipline heavy with riders from the highway – to the well-established US racing scene, with its grass roots evolution and a discipline sturdy in self-discipline specialists.
“I feel that they’re sturdy [the other competitors],” stated Niewiadoma in a media assertion from Huge Sugar. “They simply race in another way than how we race. Nobody was actually combating for place earlier than the necessary sections and I really feel like in Europe it’s one large battle earlier than that.
“I used to be like oh that’s candy I can simply enter one thing first with out combating for it. I really feel like in Europe now we have so many women so we develop into feisty. The ladies had been very sturdy on the market for certain.”
Niewiadoma had taken off solo earlier than the midway mark to make it two for 2 within the self-discipline, however stated the course was relentless with the technical nature of the up and down route making it “brutal” and “arduous to loosen up”.
“To be trustworthy, the final 5 kms I used to be like ‘by no means once more’. It’s tremendous arduous however I really feel like yeah, at all times after profitable and after an enormous sufferfest, it feels so satisfying that you really want extra.”
Not right away, nonetheless, because the low season now calls. Which means Niewiadoma must watch for subsequent yr to see if she will make it three for 3 within the self-discipline.
