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Marianne Vos (Netherlands) sprinted to yet another world title in Leuven on Saturday, outpacing Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) at the end of a tough edition of the UCI gravel world championships.
The duo went clear with Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) and Soraya Paladin (Italy) before pushing on ahead inside the final 50km. They rapidly gained time over the chasers, with their gap soaring and going to over four minutes.
Vos jumped on a climb inside 2km to go but Kopecky was able to hold her. The Dutchwoman sat on her then and inside the final 800 meters, the speed dropped to almost a standstill. Vos launched and Kopecky had no answer, with the Dutchwoman taking world title number 14 across various disciplines.
She had previously landed gold medals in road races, track, and cyclocross.
“I didn’t think about the previous 13, to be honest,” she said. “Of course it is something fairly new, but then it is a world championships so you try to do your best. It was of course nice to be in the front with Lotte, but you know it is going to be hard as well.”
Kopecky is a very strong rider and so good to be in the break with, but she is also a very rapid sprinter. Vos was aware of her finishing speed.
“She is so fast it is not perfect, but of course when you are riding with such a class rider [it is good]. Last week she got the world title, so I knew she was in good shape. It was really great to race together here, especially with these crowds.”
Kopecky had a fine ride for her debut in the discipline.
“It’s not a shame to be second after Marianne. But it was my first gravel race and it was something completely different,” she said.
Marianne Vos is Gravel World Champion #Leuven2024!
The fact she’s still able to perform on such level, beating the Road World Champion … Insane!
@eurosport pic.twitter.com/xCoUhJ5VWv
— Domestique (@Domestique___) October 5, 2024
‘Lotte set a really high pace’
The third UCI gravel world championships set off from Halle without last year’s winner Kasia Niewiadoma. The Pole triumphed last season and went on to take the Tour de France Femmes this season.
She has competed just once since then, the elite world championships one week ago, and did not line out at the start.
Also missing was Olympic MTB champion Pauline Ferrand Prévot (France), who triumphed in 2022. Their absence was made up for with the presence of big names such as double world road race champion Kopecky, plus the formidable Dutch entry containing Vos, Pieterse, Wiebes and Fem van Empel.
The race was 135km in distance and saw a big split after 40km which then came back together soon afterwards.
Kopecky was riding aggressively and forced a split with Vos, Wiebes and Soraya Paladin (Italy). Kopecky and Vos then pushed onwards prior to reaching Leuven and the final 50km of racing. Wiebes was chasing alone then but was picked up by teammate Pieterse, Paladin, Romy Kasper (Germany) and Nicole Frain (Australia).
“We were actually quite a long time with a bigger group, but then on a harder part Lotte set a really high pace,” Vos explained. “We were first with the four of us, with Lorena Wiebes and also Sorya Paladin, but then after another hard part we were left with two.”
With 35km left the leaders were over two minutes clear and they doubled that with 20km remaining. Kopecky was repeatedly stretching her back, potentially spelling issues.
“It was fun but when I was alone with Marianne my lower back was exploding,” she would say afterwards. “I tried to make the tension go away but it was horrible. I think it’s because of all the holes in the roads. It was pretty painful.”
Vos: ‘I wasn’t confident for the sprint’
The duo continued to work together while behind Paladin was dropped by Pieterse, Wiebes and Kasper.
That left two riders fighting for gold, and three going for bronze.
Vos attacked on the hill with 1.6km to go, opening a gap of several bike lengths. Kopecky came back to her and squeezed past on the narrow streets, then took over at the front. She led them into the park with Vos content to sit on and wait, and continuing to do so when they emerged out again onto the streets of Leuven.
The duo slowed right down to a track-style duel, then Vos launched. Vos got a gap and took a clear win, clocking up yet another world championship title.
“I wasn’t confident for the sprint, for sure, but of course I also knew it was hard to escape,” she said, referring to that late attack. “When I saw I wasn’t going to make it I decided to wait.”
That proved to be the right choice and her 14th gold was secured. As for Kopecky, she felt she didn’t adopt the right tactics.
“I should have done it differently but with Marianne you are never sure,” she said. “I should have started a bit earlier, I think.”
Behind Wiebes powered clear of Pieterse and Kasper on the uphill section before the park and took bronze, 3:57 behind Vos, with Pieterse a further 12 seconds back and Kasper taking fifth.
