Marianne Vos delivered a stunning win for the Dutch team against home favourite Lotte Kopecky at the UCI Gravel World Championships in Leuven, while becoming the first rider to win a race using innovative self-inflating tyres.
The two riders rode clear of the field with a little under 50km remaining and dramatically outpaced the chase group of pre-race contenders such as Puck Pieterse and Lorena Wiebes.
After what was broadly considered a misfire at the Road World Championships where the Dutch team found itself entirely off the podium, taking first and third at the UCI's gravel counterpart will be a partial consolation.
Surprisingly, though, Vos engaged in some rare technical experimentation with the race – equipping her bike with the Gravaa KAPS adjustable tyre system which allowed her to adjust her tyre pressure to match the terrain during the race.
For a gravel race where pivotal attacks can come either on off-road and cobbled terrain or smooth paved roads, the benefit of customising your tyre pressure to either surface is obvious.
Speaking to Cyclingnews after her victory, she confirmed that she frequently used the system during the race, and considered it to help her en route to victory.
"It helped with higher pressure at the finish but also with lowering the pressure on rougher track," she said.
The same technology was deployed at Paris-Roubaix in 2023 by Visma-Lease a Bike, but then was used solely by the men's team and to no notable benefit, with Wout van Aert not using the system himself, and finishing in third place.
For the team and brand, this will be a stunning endorsement of the technical advantage that could be on offer. When asked whether she would use the technology in races next year, Vos confirmed that she would continue using it for this kind of racing.
Keeping up with Kopecky
For Vos the process of winning a World Championship jersey may have become a little repetitive, with this representing the fourteenth title on her palmares.
“I didn't think about the previous 13, to be honest. Of course, [Gravel World Championship]’s something fairly new, but then it's a world championship so you try to do your best," she said to broadcasters after the race finish.
"It was nice to be in the front with Lotte," she added. "And then it's gonna be hard as well. She won [Road Worlds] last week so I knew she's in good shape."
Speaking to Cyclingnews after the race, Vos explained that she entered the race with an open mind. "I didn't have real expectations, because I didn't really know what to expect," she said. "Halfway through the race, we were still with such a big group that I thought, okay, whoa, this is such a star backfield that it's gonna be hard to break away here."
It was Kopecky's move which shredded that larger group. "When Lotte Kopecky went, we were first with the four of us," Vos said. "Then later we were with the two of us, and then it was still a long way to go. But yeah, of course, it's a fantastic companion if you have Lotte Kopecky with you."
Attacks were traded between the two throughout the final kilometres, and Vos made a major move on the 300m Ramberg climb with less than 2km remaining, but it wasn't enough to shed her Belgian breakaway companion.
It became obvious that the race would come down to a sprint between two of the sport's most capable riders. It was hesitation from Kopecky, though, which opened the door for Vos.
"I was actually thinking, okay, she wasn't really going," Vos told Cyclingnews. "So I thought: Okay, I need to go and just go all in if I go. So with like 175 meters to go, I just went for it and went all out to the finish, and then I still wasn't sure, but just kept going.
"With 15 meters ago, I thought, Okay, I think I have it."
For Vos, the Gravel World Championship title represents an excellent end to the season, and the Dutch rider is already looking forward to a slower pace. "It's off-season, so I'll just enjoy a little bit of rest," she said. "Enjoy some nice family time. And yeah, for sure, I'm gonna relax a little and enjoy this."
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