The second one gravel world championship, which took place last weekend, closed the brief parenthesis on this discipline. Opened on the occasion of the first European Championship, held in Belgium on October 1st. Gravel is growing, attracting more and more enthusiasts, both among cyclists and fans. The province of Treviso, between Saturday and Sunday, was able to enjoy illustrious names from the world cycling scene and a classics crowd.
But how far can this discipline go? It's popular with many athletes, thanks to its ever-changing and diverse paths. The difference between the European Championship and the World Championship was extremely profound.Technical choices that also lead the various cities to have to make selections, in order to bring the best possible team to the competition. The same Italy of Punctual between men and women it has varied a lot, building four teams (two for each match between the European and World Championships) that are very different from each other.
The two routes, the European and the World Championships, have shown us that gravel is growing and changing its routes. Does this lead to different choices for rider selection?
Absolutely, you need to field the best possible athlete based on the characteristics of the course. The European Championships pushed me to choose much faster athletes and therefore to focus on them.For example, in women I brought Elena Cecchini in both events, but at the European Championships he was the leading athlete, while at the World Championships he supported the others.
Cittì, between the European Championship and the World Championship you've changed a lot, especially in the women's race.
I had more choice, in fact I can say it now: we should have had Longo-Borghini as well, but due to injury, that wasn't possible. With the men's team, I gave more space to the under-23s at the European Championships, but at the World Championships I didn't feel like it, especially since it turned out to be a five-hour race.
The level of athletes has risen, and this has been seen among both women and men…
It's risen, and by a lot. Both in terms of names and the quality of the athletes' effort. We find professional teams who make this specialty their professionI believe that within 2-3 years we will have teams dedicated to this discipline with increasingly competitive professionals in the sector. Especially in the women's field We saw the best, Ferrand-Prevot and some mountain bike athletes were missing, but if you look at the road they were all there.
Did Lombardy preclude the choices a little the day before the men's event?
Alessandro De Marchi and Simone Velasco still participated, of course their presence goes hand in hand with the teams' needs. Perhaps by postponing the test a week ahead of the Lombardy test we would have had different results. athletes, but let's not forget who won (Mohoric, ed.) and the fact that there was a rider like Van Aert.
What is the relationship like with the various riders' teams?
It's not easy, we are an emerging specialty, but already from last year to today we can notice a greater desire to participateA desire that also extends to companies. If it were up to them, we'd have many more athletes at our disposal. I believe that these two world championships and the next one, which will take place in Flanders, will give the final "go-ahead" to this specialty..
Can we coordinate constructively?
Many teams have contacted me in the two days following the World Championships, showing great interest, as have manufacturers. Just think about the types of bikes that are selling the most now: Gravel bikes occupy a good share of the market.
What growth do you imagine for gravel in the future?
The one that existed for mountain biking in the 90s. We think the 2028 Olympics will be held in the United States and this is a specialty that originated there.Gravel is establishing itself as the third off-road discipline, considering that they have awarded the World Championships until 2028. We started with two editions in Italy, then we will move to Belgium, Australia, France, Belgium again and then the United Arab Emirates in AlUla. I repeat, I would not be surprised if this specialty could have an increasingly bright future..
Arriving off-road helps, but the distances then become very challenging…
Anyone who has already raced cyclocross or mountain bikes at a riding level is at an extremely advantage. Just making turns correctly helps a lot.But then distance comes into play. Both races were around 5 hours, so it's clear that endurance really matters. And you can only train for that on the road. Let's think for example about Cecchini who has never done anything off-road and performed great.
The public then responded incredibly, both on Saturday and Sunday…
I saw so much passion and I think those who were on the side of the road are going home with a remarkable amount of amazement in their eyes. Gravel is so exciting, there is no assistance and the rider puts a lot of his effort into it.It's like going back in time. We need to know how to make the most of small moments, and we, as citizens, must be able to make our support felt at every moment.
What did you take away from this experience?
He left me another medal besides the one from Perch, The people and the staff really put their heart into it and that is a huge reward for me.I have to thank everyone for this second fantastic experience.
