HOW Mathieu van der Poel WON The 2024 UCI Gravel World Championship’s Men Elite

[@Pedaler]

Yes I know, my bad Florian Vermeersch is not Gianni Vermeersch. Those unique belgium riders...

[@Ron-jk5og]

In Europe gavel means just in between the MTB (very technical) and road cycling (very aerobe). Sort of cross country cycling which is very attractive to watch. In US gravel means very long straights, high depence on luck with numerous flats and like road racing very aerobe and low technical. Kind of a romantic and heroïc look to it when you see them struggle in the dust on seemingly end less roads but I am personally very happy with these European versions. Even though strade Bianchi is a lot prettier than going through parcs and parking garages in Leuven. That was too much of a circus. We have the cyclocross for that.

[@adrianlauft6154]

I'm sorry but what on earth was Belgium thinking? That Vermeersch beats MVDP in a 1 vs. 1 on a classics style course 😂😂😂 That's straightforward dumb. Why did they not use their numerical advantage properly and roll attacks? 🙈😅

[@AdrienLeGuilloux]

Agreed 100% not sure they could have beaten him but this...

[@rafaeldegiacomoaraujo8778]

Belgium needs to go back to cycling school

[@Rboy1975]

It was NOT a race of country's. There where 2 belgian teammates (alpecin) who did not have work if MvdP was ahead.

[@petert4032]

Exactly. 4 riders. One attacks, MVDP chases the other 3 have to follow. When MVDP catches another goes. How they were content to allow a 1v1 on MVDP is beyond me

[@atzedevrieze]

Gianni Vermeersch and Quintin Hermans are Alpecin riders. They both declared afterwards: it was not up to me to close MVDP. To be fair: MVDP didn't really chase down Gianni Vermeersch two years ago

[@alexforero2674]

Excelente transmisión y análisis 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@HeathifyMyLife]

182 km and VDP dominando, felicitaciones 🥳 Fue muy emocionante ver a tantos deportistas juntos. También pude documentar parte de la carrera ;)

[@ВикторПавлов-т5у]

Спорт, это то лучшее, что придумало человечество 😊😊😊

[@edymarkonthego4096]

Congrats 🎉. This is suited dor him. Technical rider with speed is a win.

[@stevewood7406]

Yes. Certainly a dynamic, cat and game mouse during this race.

[@eszterdomina]

I do hope the spirit of gravel is not dead and WE can keep it alive. Not too technical course quess the tyrewidth 😂😂😂 good video thanks🎉

[@miguelvazquezcid]

Mvdp had a perfect classics season…. Not sure he is saving anything by winning this worlds.

[@kenyoung6599]

only POTENTIAL knock on mathieu’s season was lack of a TDF stage, but he really hasn’t bought into that as something he’s DRIVEN by on a yearly basis. not yet anyway.

[@simonwhelan8600]

i laughed at that too !!!

[@Whistler4u]

Don't forget he also took the CX World Championship this year.

[@runelarsen2492]

We simply dont have the Gravel roads for a 200 km. Race in eu so you have to make do with cobbel forestroads farm roads and bike pads

[@АнтонАлексеенко_044]

It is like making a boxing championship for men with no arms, it is not their fault that they don't have the arms, is it?

[@letsgetbusychild]

Portugal does :)

[@tonyg3091]

@@runelarsen2492 My point exactly. It is just in Europe places with gravel roads that long are not that many.

[@runelarsen2492]

@@letsgetbusychild true maybe Romanien and Greece to but in the US where there is Hole Road network consisting of Gravel we dont have

[@olenowakdalner9592]

In DK, NL or BE there is not a lot of continous gravel ... but many other European contries do have plenty of gravel for a 200K course ... plenty. But there is a lot of political interrest in having BE to hold the championships.

[@blazjarc5359]

Probably the closest thing to road racing in the early 1900's

[@fernandovega5722]

Was thinking the same thing. 😊

[@BrettinLux]

I was fortunate to ride the age group race and this doesn’t do the course justice at all.There was cobbles,forest technical sections.Swamps and farm tracks.There were plenty of broken wheels from the rocks and roots👍

[@yvesbusschot3009]

​@@BrettinLuxabsolutely. All those watchers are fooled by the crazy speed of the pro. I live there are ride those roads every week. I was wondering ok TV "which paths are they riding" But the speed hides the hardness of the tracks. I made 60km of it last weekend and yes, as you mention it it was though! With some terrible sections.

[@yspegel]

Thnx for sharing this! All you had to do when you get MvdP in your wheel: Go hang in his wheel and do NOTHING. Riding together with him is just like giving up. As a Dutch I'm not complaining here tho. Based on Mathieu's interview he was there more like anything because Canyon want's to sell gravel bikes.

[@karsten27027]

Hi pedaler. welcome back. I have really been missing your posts while you were gone.

[@kierandaniel2323]

MVDP saves his season after winning Flanders, Paris Roubaix, E3, cleaning up at cyclocross... This is probably the 'least important' of his wins this season!

[@MarkusMutscheller]

Thank you so much.....appreciate it. Maybe slow down a bit with the commentary. :-)

[@lennyharp]

It was a weak field with 1 great rider , Van Der Pole and the Belgians. I agree that other nations have much better roads for a gravel or rough road race! Peter Sagan grew up on gravel roads in Slovakia. That and great tactics is why he was a dominate racer. Van Der Pole has similar skills to Sagan and could win numerous World Championships like Sagan. .

[@lazlo2511]

Nederland: we bring MVDP Belguim: This is our race, can we please play nicely? 😂😂😂

[@Gravel-Cult]

One of the woman gravel pros was joking around and called it the " bike path" world championships. 😀😉

[@stefanschopplein9270]

Who? Maybe she did not seen the complete course....

[@Gravel-Cult]

@@stefanschopplein9270 It was a post race interview. It was Maddy Nutt, one of the British pro field. She did well at Migration Gravel in Africa and Traka in Spain. Both events are longer and the terrain had more of a effect on the race. As I said it was more of a joke than a direct criticism. In retrospective her comment is being reflected by lot of people.

[@FreedomOfSport]

Probably because she has horrible bikepaths in her homecountry that look similar to this 😏

[@Whistler4u]

So little knowledge. They're not the Belgium team. Two of the Belgian riders ride for MvdP.

[@fork8972]

2:54 LOL You: Belgium is in control, so MVDP is going to have to watch. Reality: Alpecin is coming to the front to set the pace for MVDP.

[@fork8972]

I must say it was entertaining to watch how you've seen a completely different race, by completely misunderstanding the dynamics of this race.

[@FaiscaaaH]

Guys out one thing in your head, numbers mean nothing if the other guy is just waaaay to strong 😉 Belgium could do anything but the outcome would be the same, MVP wining the jersey.

[@BobTheCratchit]

This gravel seems more like dirt than gravel but i guess in my mind gravel biking is biking on anything that isnt cement or asphalt

[@Malox91]

10:40 what the hell is going on? That's a ridiculously fast attack.. even leaving skid marks? Looks very strange.

[@yvesbusschot3009]

Guys! You all miss the point regarding the Belgians in this race. This race was criticized a lot in our country … and amongst riders and observers. What happened is very simple: 3 of the belgian’s in the chasing group are all riding in the same pro team as Van der Poel (Alpecin Fenix) . All those guys are pro riding for him the all season. They all raced for Matthieu during that gravel world race and not as a team. The only one ( Stuyven) riding for Lidl Trek was blocked by the others . He was mad after the race. Gravel world UCi is fair new. It was a first world race in Belgium. There was no team , no coach / manager with clear tactics. And Alepcin managed the place as much riders (Belgians) as they could to help Matthieu Vanderpoel ( Ned) win this race. They even admitted at the end with dum post race interviews. That being said, Matthieu was the strongest guy. Regarding the tracks, those are my weekly tracks for gravel. I made a big part of the track last Sunday. I can tell you it was NOT an easy one. We were all fooled by the amazing speed of those’d guys. I can not even imagine how they can go that fast on those tracks. There are wholes, stones, bad cobblestones sometimes… lot’s of (short) extreme ups and downs. Too short to get them on the elevation maps… but though to ride fast on a 185 km track.

[@rolex3560]

What's up with all the non-competitors riding casually on the race course? They could cause a crash.......

[@oquemaur]

Would love to have seen where us riders would have finished as they claim this discipline as there own.

[@WilliamJeffs-vu7nr]

Not too many entries from the US of A.

[@andre6649]

le sang de POUPOU resurgit et vaincre :)))

[@sinombe101]

Pedaler it's good to hear from You ..I wasnt aware that you d still be doing your good job❤

[@michaelmuldoonmikesm08]

we need a LIV golf of cycling to take out UCI BS

[@michaelmuldoonmikesm08]

Pidcock didn't do it because he's very selective on what he does so he can win, on this track, Pidcock would eat dust compared to the power output of the size of MVDP . This is why Pidcock gets too much praise, he just rides multiple discipline according to track, just look at his stats in XC MTB etc.

[@Tarmaccyclocross]

A side show that nobody’s bothered about 🤣🤣🤣

[@peanutbutterjellyicecream]

just a freaking road race with a bit of dust lol, they are all running roadbikes not gravel bikes

[@yvesbusschot3009]

Man… They were all riding gravel bikes. And I can assure this track is tough . I live there, those are my all around tracks. I made 65 km of the ciurcuit last Sunday … and I can tell is was a real gravel though track. We’re all fooled by the crazy speed on TV.

[@R.Lyubomir.6000]

🇺🇦 Хто би сумнівався 💪

[@VincentBard-m2k]

Rodriguez Cynthia Jones Christopher Martin Steven

[@fulumpaset]

Meh. The biggest gravel races aren’t even part of UCI, so what are we doing? Also did mvdp score gravel points to qualify for this race or like.. why is he here if he isn’t racing gravel throughout the year?

[@damnificados984]

because every country can nominate whoever they want basically.

[@rcrd01]

Terrible commentary, just criticised the format and the riders. I rode on Saturday and it was very technical and a brutal hard course.

[@Pedaler]

🍪

[@PatrickDelorenzi]

Strade bianche walmart version lol

[@richardhampton2830]

Not real gravel

[@michaeljordan4392]

Wait for the real Gravel in Nannup 2026. Course in western australia is the real deal

[@Trust-me-I-am-a-dentist]

I believe you.

[@thomasvoytek9903]

This is a joke right? This is not Gravel racing. Like Chris Horner would say, " " Knuckle heads"

[@mrsith1402]

Looks like gravel isn't even a thing

[@cannon1156]

Pathetic course .. that is not a gravel race. Doesnt the UCI know what gravel means?

[@MattParman-g9w]

Should have been called the multi-surface world championship. The UCI copped on to gravel popularity and already ruined it.

[@АнтонАлексеенко_044]

Not trying to take anything from MVDP, but if Keegan didn't show up it was not a legit gravel world championship

[@WilliamJeffs-vu7nr]

Why did he stay away?

[@АнтонАлексеенко_044]

@@WilliamJeffs-vu7nr Now that is a very correct question!

[@kierandaniel2323]

​@@WilliamJeffs-vu7nr because it clashes with one of the big races in the Lifetime Grand Prix (maybe big sugar?). The pro US gravel riders rank the Lifetime GP above the UCI world's.

[@WilliamJeffs-vu7nr]

@@kierandaniel2323 Sounding like the Baseball World series.

[@jovan.vuckovic]

Sure buddy, keegan is stronger than mvdp

[@tonyg3091]

Sorry but this is not gravel race. Gravel worlds should be held where gravel is-America

[@thierryflippe6792]

No decent cycle race should take part in the US…..

[@WilliamJeffs-vu7nr]

Roxy Music.

[@fabiomenini9635]

Gravel in EU is spectacular anyway. It will be the future main cycling ✅️

[@PidloWe]

those Americans who are constantly crying gravel only exists in U.S are really getting annoying...

[@WilliamJeffs-vu7nr]

@@PidloWe Unfodtunately many US sports fans have been hoodwinked by the 'World series' that no one else competes in. Lemond took it to the Europeans and won. Really does sound like KFC from over hear.