Belgium, to my knowledge, has never been directly invaded by Britain. That is, until last weekend, when 271 British riders made it across the Channel to take part in the third Gravel World Championships in Leuven.
Incredibly, out of a total field of 2,613, more than a 10th of the competitors were from England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Unlike other elite Worlds races, the gravel event has a mass-participation element. While Mathieu van der Poel and Marianne Vos were triumphing in the elite races, further back, qualified riders were flying the flag for GB.
One of these was Charlie Riccard, who qualified for the Worlds by finishing in the top 25% of his age category – 19-34 – at the Graean Cymru race in Wales last month.
“It’s a bit weird, being surrounded by people in all their different countries’ jerseys,” he told Cycling Weekly on Monday. “I’m used to someone just being in another Rapha jersey, but this was cool.
“The crowds were crazy, it didn’t matter who was coming past, people were screaming and shouting. To get that experience was amazing – you’d never get that at an amateur race. You see the helicopters and drones above you, and the TV cameras, but you’re aware very quickly that you’re not a pro and you settle in.”
The crowds were a recurring theme in the reactions of Worlds debutants. Rachel Manning, who raced in the female 19-34 category on Saturday, echoed Riccard: “The whole course was basically lined with people. The finish line was even madder, with people banging on the boards, it was nothing like I’ve ridden before.”
Her partner, Dr Andy Davenport, experienced much the same the next day: “I’m used to quiet road races in England, so this was incredible. There was one French guy in an inflatable rooster singing the national anthem on each of the laps.”
New experiences
It might have been the Worlds, but thanks to the qualifying nature of the event, some were fresh to gravel, although obviously not new to cycling.
“I was very nervous and excited, because I’ve never raced on the road and it was my second gravel race, at the Worlds,” Manning, usually an enduro MTB racer, said. “I had no idea what to expect. I rode at my own pace and if I saw a group I’d stick with it a bit, and see what happened.”
“I’m very new to gravel,” Victoria Mannakee, who competed in the 35-39 category, said. “I’m a roadie, really. And then this is my first year racing gravel. So I did the British gravel champs, and came second in my age group. And that was actually my first actual gravel race. Then I tried the qualifying race in Wales, did that, and won my age group there. My dad said: ‘Oh, you’ve got to go to Belgium, it’ll be a once in a lifetime experience.’”
The location obviously tempted more Brits to take part – next year’s race is in Nice, France – but gravel’s inclusive nature and the adventure clearly meant a few more riders than usual made it there.
But this was not your normal mass participation event. “It was savage, horrible,” Riccard said. “35kph average for the first 20km, people flipping over their bars on farm lanes; I saw a guy take out two other people as he flew across them on a dirt track. It was mad, it was crazy to have ridden the same course on the same day as the elite-level people.”
“I went out way too hard, the same thing I always do.” Davenport explained. “I died for the last 90km, and then I perked up when [Valtteri] Bottas [the F1 driver] came along. I just wanted to beat him, essentially, and I think everyone in my group of 30 had that in mind. I felt empty crossing the line.”
He was not the only one to meet the racing driver. “I got caught by a couple of guys that I ride with locally, and I was like oh GB, sweet,” Riccard recounted. “We stuck together, and stayed as a three within a bigger group, and had a laugh a bit. Some Belgian blokes were screaming and shouting and we were like ‘fuck off’. We were all suffering. Valteri Bottas was in my group for maybe 80km which was pretty cool.
“It was a fantastic circuit,” Mannakee added. “It was brilliant, really technical. Unfortunately, I just had some bad luck and had a problem with a part on my bike. I limped to the tech zone, fixed my bike with some zip ties, made it rideable, but I was never in the race from then. I just thought I’m in Belgium, I’m at the World Championships, I was determined to finish the race. It was a bit lonely and soul-destroying, but it was a fantastic experience, and I’d love to go back and do it again.”
It might have been hard, but most said they would ride at the Worlds in the future, if they qualified. Where else in cycling can you race on exactly the same course as the best of the best?
