On Sunday 6th October in Flanders, Belgium, Bahrain’s Matej Mohorič will aim to retain the UCI Gravel World Championships crown that he won so spectacularly in Veneto, Italy 12 months ago.
The Slovenian soloed to the line with 18km left of a very demanding course, to cap what had been a phenomenal season. On Sunday he comes to the start line on the Possozplein in Halle with one single aim: to repeat his heroics of last October. While that is his focus, the 29 year old knows it will be a tough task this year. As well as the course being much less selective than in 2023, he crashed reconning a UCI World Gravel Series event in Spain last month:
“I hurt my hand in Girona so I had to skip the road Worlds, but it’s getting better and doesn’t hurt too much any more; I’m fit to race on Sunday.
The parcours is faster and a little bit less technical than last year, so it will be harder to make the difference. I think the groups will be bigger, and come to the line in a bunch for a reduced sprint.
I’ll do everything I can to try and defend my title, but it’s certainly not going to be easy … there are some big names on the startlist!”
Riding alongside the reigning champion will be the winner of that race in Girona two weeks ago: fellow Slovenian Matevž Govekar. The 24 year old has had an incredible autumn, also winning the final stage of the Tour of Britain.
Sports Director Franco Pellizotti is in Belgium and has been analysing the route and our two competitors’ prospects:
“It’s a less challenging route than last year, with fewer testing climbs. There is a total of about 110 kilometres of gravel, and it’s a really fast course. We’re here with two riders: Matevž and Matej. Govekar won two weeks ago at an important lead-up race in Girona. Matej isn’t at 100% after crash at the same race, but I’m sure he can do well and be a real help to Matevž too. I expect a hard race: the level is high because it’s a World Championships. Mathieu van der Poel is on the startlist, and he’s the king on this surface so is the rightful favourite, but then again, last year Wout van Aert was favourite and didn’t win. On gravel anything can happen; we’ll do the best we can on the day and hope to get another top result.”
This third edition of the race starts with a loop around Halle on farm tracks and paved roads. After that, the bunch will ride through a series of ancient woodlands, the Forests of Brabantse, known as the ‘Green Lung’ of Brussels. The finish in Leuven comes via a 47.7km loop which they will tackle twice. 60% of that loop is the same as the 2023 European Championship course.
An estimated 56% of the 182km route is unpaved, with around 1,150m of elevation gain (compared with 1,890m last year). Before the finish in Leuven, there is the short but steep cobbled climb of Ramberg (11.2% average gradient, max 13.6%), followed by the Donatuspark “gravel” section for the final kilometre. There is also the novel addition of a spiral ramp inside Leuven train station itself!
Mohorič is already a triple World Champion, having won both the Junior and the U23 UCI road races in 2012 & 2013, as he looks to become the first ever double World Champion on this surface.
I’m quite excited and I’m super motivated. I like racing on gravel because it’s a little bit different to racing on the road: a bit harder but at the same time more fun. Let’s see what happens. We’ll recon the course on Friday. After that we’ll fine tune my setup and my Merida Silex bike, choose the right tyres for Sunday, and hopefully I can have a clear run for once this season. I’ve not been too lucky with crashes and mechanicals this year, but I hope Sunday will be different. My sole objective is to give my best and try to win it again!
The 2024 UCI Men’s Elite Gravel World Championships race starts at 12:00 CET on Sunday, and is expected to finish around 16:30 CET.
