Mega tech gallery: Unreleased bikes, self-inflating tyres, and zip tie hacks at the UCI Gravel World Championships

This Canyon Grail with Xentis High X wheels could claim the title of most aggressive and out there of all the bikes at the UCI Gravel Worlds.

As the 2024 WorldTour road season starts to wind down and the blue touchpaper of the cyclocross season ignites, the autumn always feels like something of an inflection point. 

Of the WorldTour riders, excluding the few that fancy themselves a tilt at Il Lombardia next week, most are on the steady decline into the off-season, if they're not already there. And those on the nocturnal 'cross calendar are on the ascendency, no doubt in their final training block as racing gets underway, with the first of the Exact Cross series also coming next week.