Pros and enthusiasts cycle on the same gravel paths: catching up, hitting and chilling together afterwards

‘Brakes! » The group of Marc Pouw (51) comes to a halt abruptly and looks surprised at the traffic jam of about eight hundred cyclists for them.What’s happening?« A foreign rider asks a Belgian who answers dry: »It’s time for a break.« 

Walking next to their bike, participants of the Marly Grav Race discover, last Sunday in South Limburg, which is going on. After a bend, a steep, unpaved climb suddenly pops up, where the riders are forced to walk. « If one person makes a mistake on such a climb, the drivers behind it must also get off. Then you will automatically get a congestion, » says Greg Perreman (28), participant in the 19 to 34 age category.

Lorena Wiebes, a driving star at the SD Worx – Protime cycling team, must also wait at the climb near Gulpen. The elite women stand still for almost fifteen minutes before they can continue with their course. « We had agreed to restart neutralized afterwards, so that it was fair and did not become dangerous when overtaking amateurs, » says Wiebes after his ceremony as a winner, in a place in the shade.

Combination amateurs and pros

Gravel is a form of cycling on unpaved roads, such as gravel paths, forest paths and country roads. It combines elements of road cycling and mountain biking. The bikes look like racing bikes, but have wider tires and are built for rough terrain. The sport is not only about speed, but also about adventure, technology and atmosphere.

In 2022, the UCI, the International Cycling Union, organized an official Gravel World Series and the very first World Cup Gravel for the first time.

At road cycling, pros and amateurs ride separately, but big names such as Lorena Wiebes and Florian Vermeersch – professional rider at UAE Team Emirates – between the enthusiasts are cycling in a clay competition. « I think that the charm of engraving, » says Vermeersch for the race. According to the Belgian, the fact that everyone can still ‘chill’ together after the finish is ‘a big contrast with professional cycling’.

The mixture of pros and enthusiasts makes a clay competition unique within the cycling world, according to Tessa Neefjes, gravel pro for Liv Racing Collective. « The cosiness is part of it, » she says. « The question is whether that is preserved by the UCI with the growing professionalization – I hope so. »

World Cup qualification

About two thousand participants participate in the Gravel competition on Sunday, spread over different categories. The elite men and women start first, followed by the amateurs, which are classified on the basis of age. The age category 75-79 year olds starts as the last, twenty minutes after the elite men.

Within each age category there are amateurs who drive fanatically and participants for pleasure. When registering, participants can choose between a distance of 100 or 155 kilometers. The route consists of a round with three loops south of Valkenburg. Those who drive 100 kilometers do the round twice; Participants in the 155 kilometers drive him three times.

The Marly Grav Race is an official UCI Gravel World Series competition, which means that participants can qualify for the World Cup if they finish in the best 25 percent of their category. « There is a real chance that you, as an amateur, will get the World Cup in your age category, » explains national coach Gravel Laurens ten Dam. According to the former pro, this contributes to the popularity of the clay competitions. This course was also sold out quickly. Ten Dam emphasizes that the level is getting higher. « Nowadays, a rider really has to cycle harder than three years ago for a World Cup qualification. » Anyone who thinks that the fanatic amateurs only participate in the 19 to 34 age category is wrong. There is also plenty of ambition for a ticket for the World Cup among the people over 70. Jan Welles (70) is driving a gravel race for the first time, but hopes « it has been possible to get a World Cup ticket, » he says after the race.

Relaxed atmosphere

Forty minutes before the start, the trade of the elite men is almost full. The sun is shining and the temperature is high, which means that some riders are sweating before the start. « In half an hour we will give the starting signal for the men’s elite, » the speaker shouts, but his voice is almost impossible to be understood by the sound of the roller benches – a device that is used to let a bicycle ride stationary. The fronts in the starting section use the roller bench to cycle in, so that they are optimally positioned to warm up to drive up the Caubergwho cycle the riders a few minutes after the start,

The starting section of the 19-34 age category has already been filled. Perreman goes to his starting section half an hour before the race. The 19-34 category has around seven hundred participants. « The principle is simple: whoever comes first is it first, » says Jasper Vermazen, race director of the Marly Grav Race.

Vermeersch walks at his leisure to the starting section. He has a chat with a few acquaintances and connects at the back. « It’s a long race, you have plenty of time to drive forward, » says UAE’s rider afterwards.

That relaxed attitude is characteristic of gravel competitions. Sometimes the parties are almost more important afterwards than the course itself, according to Wiebes. The rider thinks the great thing about Gravel that it is ‘so accessible’. Neefjes also likes « the atmosphere always fun ». After a competition, the Gravelprof often « hangs to drink something with the amateurs and to hear what their competition was like ».

Dust clouds and falls

That makes gravel as a sport so fun, says Pouw. He has already come to Limburg with a group of cyclists and also drove the 85 -kilometer tour yesterday.

The competition element no longer needs him – he wants to « make it a nice weekend ». That is why he does not enter, but « cycles warm » automatically.  » The 70-year-old Welles thinks differently about that, he says after the race. « When you get older, it takes longer until you get going. The first minutes I almost got cramp in my legs. »

The start was « totally not chaotic » for both men. Very different from the experience of Praeman. « There were so many people on the Cauberg, » says the rider from Belgium. « Fortunately, the road there was still wide, but when we turned the first unpaved paths it became really chaotic. »

With the first unpaved piece, the different categories are already mixed. Dust clouds shoot in the air. « I only saw dust, so catching up was too dangerous, » said Perreman.

The first clay part also means the first falls. To the left of the road are three riders in the grass, their clothing covered with dust, so that they almost merge into the landscape. « I saw a lot of falls and people sitting on the side, but luckily I didn’t belong to that, » says Perreman afterwards. « In the first ten minutes I said to myself: calmly, this match takes five hours – you don’t win in the first minutes. »

No own course

The combination of pros and amateurs makes gravel competitions accessible, but also ensures complex and sometimes dangerous situations. « We drove on a small round at the World Series in Aachen, » says Neefjes. « Due to the many age categories, it sometimes becomes dangerous. The over-70s drive slower, while the elite men and women overtake them at high speed. »

Sometimes those different groups also influence each other’s competition. At the European Championship last year, for example, the amateur men (19-34 years old) caught up with the peloton of the women’s elite. « Some women could join that group, » says Wiebes by telephone, a few days before the Marly Grav Race. « They naturally had an advantage. »

That is why Neefjes called the organization a day before the competition. The ladies were classified for the age category 19 to 34, but were given a new starting position behind the 45-49 year category. There was only two minutes between the different categories, which according to nephews was too little. This ensured that many riders nevertheless benefited from participants from other categories on Sunday. « You can catch up and join, » says race director Vermazen.

It remains difficult to make a good time schedule, says Wiebes. She sees the only real solution in the smearing of the competition in two days. But that is almost impossible organizational, says Vermazen. « We have received a permit to close the roads for one day. »

Material pech

Halfway through a steep descent, about thirty water bottles are in a lot between the tree roots. An older man tries to avoid them, but loses his balance. He flies over his steering wheel, ends up with his head on the roadside, followed by the rest of his body. For a moment he looks around him, checks whether he is injured – and gets back on his bike.

The water bottles bounce from the bottle holders in violent descents. Perreman’s poor preparation of the riders believes. « Before the race you have to check whether your bottle is stuck properly, » explains the Belgian rider. He was not in much inconvenience. In fast descents, according to him, you should mainly « convert the button ». « Some pieces are technical, then you have to trust that your predecessor can steer well. »

Not only falls are lurking in the event of a technical descent, there is also a greater chance of material pech. Also at Vermeersch. Just after he drove away, together with another rider, he drives leaks. « It happened in a descent. I don’t know exactly what it was – probably a stone, » he says afterwards, sitting at a picnic table with friends.

Vermeersch drives Tubeless: a tire without an inner tire, in which latex fluid is automatically closed small leaks. « But the gap was too big, » he says afterwards. A mechanic tries to help, but nothing works. After five kilometers of cycling on his rim, Vermeersch gets a new wheel. Eventually he finishes 22nd.

Catch -up actions

« Come on the right! » Hears Welles during his last round – the second of today. All men over sixty automatically drive a hundred kilometers. Tim Wellens, professional rider at UAE Team Emirates, who drives solo ahead in the elite peloton, catches up with him. Not much later the group of pursuers also follows. « Then you really have to keep your head, » says Welles afterwards, sitting on a wall in the sun, with a coke in his hand. « Once I was overtaken during a descent with a lot of loose gravel. I wanted to get aside for those riders, but then ended up in the prut myself. »

The group of Pouw is also overtaken by the pros. Fortunately especially on wide paths and not in a steep descent. « When those fast guests caught up with me, I thought: it is better to play golf. »