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Aussies ready to rip at first UCI Gravel World Championships
Oct 6, 2022
A bunch of Australian riders will contest the first ever UCI Gravel World Championships in the Veneto region in the north-east of Italy this weekend.
In the elite women Darcie Richards, Marcie Madigan, Tiffany Cromwell and Rachel Neylan will represent the green and gold.
While Adam Blazevic, and Nathan Haas, lead the Australian's in the elite men's field along with Matthew Bird, Henry Baird, Freddy Ovett, Jacob Langham, Lachlan Morton and Matthew Sheppard.
Blazevic took out both UCI Gravel World Series races held in Australia, Seven and Gravelista.
THE COURSES:
The event will have three courses on offer: 140km, 166km and 194km. All races start in Vicenza, travel alongside the Bacchiglione river, and finish in the mediaeval walled city of Cittadella.
The majority of the courses will be spent on the typical Italian “white roads”, made famous by the Strade Bianche, and also feature some cobbles, some coarse gravel and fast asphalt.
All riders will have to contend with two hills in the first 20 kilometers but the majority of the course is relatively flat as it travels alongside the river.
The short course:
After the initial climbing coming out of the city, the race turns pretty darn flat; there’s a total of just 700 meters of climbing spread over the 140-kilometer course. The race has 32% unpaved roads, 24% hard gravel, 1% cobbles, 10% hard surface and 31% asphalt.
All women’s categories including the elite race, as well as all men’s categories ages 50 through 69 will contest this 140-kilometer course.
The longer courses:
The men’s elite field is the only race to cover the long course, which is the same course as the 140-kilometer one but adds two additional circuits of 27 kilometers around Cittadella at the end for a total of 194 kilometers with 800 meters of climbing. The race has 36% unpaved roads, 18% hard gravel, 1% cobbles, 17% hard surface and 27% asphalt.
The 166-kilometer medium length course will be contested by the men’s age categories 19 through 49 and will consist of the same main course with a single lap around Cittadella. Their total elevation on the day will be around 750 meters.