Will gravel become a road, mountain bike, and/or crossing competitor? “Calendar is too busy” | Platform

With the gravel riding, the UCI seems to have the new gold in their hands. It combines elements of road cycling and mountain biking, and is held mainly on unpaved roads. But where do these races fit into the already packed UCI calendar?

“Most gravel competitions will take place in the summer. But in the summer there are also other, more important competitions, such as the Tour,” gravel rider Hans Vandeweg told the Tribune.

“So that will become a competition for each other? In the long run, Sagan and Van der Poel will have to ride pretty much everything to make themselves fun for the different bike brands, but that’s a limited story anyway.”

Paul Higgers is also of the same opinion. “It’s good that UCI is keeping with the story, to give it a shot in the calendar.”

“But it also gets busy. If something else is added now, heads will be moved, because it can’t keep adding any contests.”

Bram Tankink believes the leaders will focus primarily on the Tour. “You wouldn’t see that quickly in gravel. But it does provide opportunities for the other second row riders. They will probably turn to the gravel circuit more often.”

Read on after the Instagram post.

Road biking, mountain biking, crisscrossing, and gravel riding now: on paper, the different disciplines seem to be competing with each other. But according to Bram Tankink, they can perfectly coexist.

“Cycling is a winter sport, while gravel is really a summer sport.”

“Gravel is able to drive straight forward with very little technology, while in cyclocross, technology takes precedence with blasting on top. You see that less with gravel. These races are also a lot longer.”

The distinction will still be made between mountain bike riding and gravel riding, according to experts.

“Everyone can gravel. You don’t have to be as technical as a mountain biker or cyclocross rider,” Tankink points out an important advantage.

Hans Vandeweghe still sees an important challenge. “Gravel is gradually entering the MTB or MTB arena. The UCI will have to look at how much gravel and asphalt they want on the track to maintain the distinction. drops Or other technical issues like mountain biking.”