Erwin Verfkken explains gravel’s success: “The perfect transition between road and cyclocross”

Niels Bastians •
Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 8:00 AM

interview Next Sunday, Golazo will stage the first European and Belgian clay court championships in the Brabants Woden region around Oude-Heverle. A championship that is going viral, in a completely new but growing field in cycling. This requires an explanation from the man who personally put cobbles on the UCI’s agenda: three-time cyclocross world champion Erwin Verviken.

Gravel riding first came into focus in cycling at the end of last season, when the UCI decided to organize the first world title fight in this field in the area around Veneto, Italy. An invitation that big names from the Peloton WorldTour such as Mathieu van der Poel, Peter Sagan, Magnus Kurt, Greg van Avermaet, Alexei Lutsenko and even Miguel Angel Lopez were happy to accept. The weather was also good, but in the end Gianni Vermeersch and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot wore the first rainbow jerseys.

A new cycling regime suddenly seemed to demand all the attention. “But actually, clay courts have been gaining popularity for years,” says Erwin Verfkken. Cycling. “It all started in the Midwest of America around 2005. In states like Arkansas, Kentucky and Iowa, they wanted to organize bike races, but about 80% of the road network there was gravel roads. It turns out that closing the real major traffic routes for the race was not a big deal.” “The plain, so they had to race on gravel roads. A new order was born.”

“The success of gravel riding in America has spread little by little to Europe, Australia, South Africa and nowadays even Kenya and Rwanda. When we held a debrief at the UCI at the end of 2019, I mentioned this: This is a boat we should not miss, because the sport is going “Good in more and more parts of the world. Unfortunately, we couldn’t act immediately because we’ve been with Covid-19 for two years. But last year’s World Gravel Championships set the tone for this sport that I see growing even further.”

Ness, Stuyven and Merlier
The list of participants in the upcoming European Championships and Belgian Championships in Oud-Heverlee is impressive. With the great road champions (Jasper Stuyven, Tim Merlier, Florian Vermeersch, Greg van Avermaet), the elite of the cyclocross world (Elie Iserbyt, Laurence Swick, Michael Vanthornhout) and everything in between (Thibau Ness, Gianni Vermeersch and Timo Kilic) it offers many exciting names Interesting. Mathieu van der Poel – who was present at the World Cup last year – is taking some rest, while Wout van Aart is still ignoring the European championships, but he will seize his opportunity in the World Cup next week.

Vermeersch became the first world champion last year – Photo: Cor Vos

With these ambassadors, it is not unreasonable that the sport will quickly gain popularity. But what makes the discipline so attractive? “It is the hybrid form between the different disciplines of road racing, cyclocross and mountain biking. Very important: it is ready to use and every rider will find something that suits him. I got it off roadFeeling without needing a lot of technical knowledge. On paper, it should suit road cyclists who can ride well, but we intentionally don’t make it too technical. There are no artificial obstacles anywhere. However, transients or mountain bikers with larger engines also have an advantage, which automatically puts them ahead.

Amateur playground
But there is a second important part that we need to discuss to understand the popularity of gravel racing. After all, on Sunday we will see not only professional racers at the start, but no less than 1,667 competitors, from 31 different nationalities, competing for gravel world titles in less than twenty categories. “While cycling enthusiasts mainly go to Cross to have a beer with their friends and see the best of the best in action, gravel is a practical sport that you want to take part in.”

“Compare that to a marathon in athletics,” Verfken explains. “At the front, the best Ethiopian and Kenyan players are vying for the win, and at the back an amateur is giving it his all by trying to finish absolutely. This is also the success of gravel: the recreational rider and the professional come together at the start and each finds their own challenges. This has long been the motto of the neighbors on the road. You are fit, you ride regularly, and you like to measure yourself according to your measurements. In the past, you did this by riding in front for as long as possible at your cycling club on Sundays, or by Complete a tour on your mountain bike.But gravel is much nicer, because of the freedom in the open nature.

Moreover, purchasing such a gravel bike offers many advantages, according to the former cyclo-cross world champion. “As a holidaymaker, you can do anything with it. It’s more comfortable than a mountain bike, which makes completing gravel races much easier and also getting around in the winter. But the bike also has more speed, so you can also use it on the road.”

Extra trip
The question now is how will this sport develop and where are the limits of its popularity? Will clay courts compete with other, more traditional sports? “I don’t think so. That’s why we program the British Columbia Championships, the European Championships and the World Championships at the end of the season, so that they form the perfect transition between road and cross. I don’t see it getting to the point where good cyclists suddenly want to become full-time gravel riders.” “And that we should develop a full gravel track – in addition to the Gravel World Series.”

Photo: Cor Foss

“But you have some typical gravel specialists, often former riders who have recently retired, like Jan Bakelants and Niki Terpstra, who still find something to their liking in endurance sports like gravel. Their lack of explosiveness no longer plays a major role, which allows them to compete.” On the front at the end of their careers. Dutchmen like Jasper Oekluin, Piotr Haavik, and Ivar Slik also scored. This is different for great professional cyclists like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert: for them, it’s an extra fun outing.

Vervecken hopes to see the biggest growth in the number of participants. “This has already become evident in the Gravel World Series. In the first year, each gravel race had between 200 and 400 participants, while this year we have already seen numbers reaching 1,500 starters in European races. It won’t be long before we regularly exceed 2,000 Participant. We also had to close registration early for this European Championship to keep everything under control. But there is clearly a future in this. It is open to everyone, and it is not necessary to reach a high level, which makes it very attractive for everyone who loves to ride a bike.

That’s all well and good, this mix of pro and amateur, but the concept also raises some questions. Isn’t all this at the expense of professionalism and high sportsmanship? “Quite the opposite. And the combination of the two is the magic of this sport. And by the way, not every amateur can simply register for the Mud World Cup (again in Veneto on October 7-8, ed.). There is certainly Qualification criteria One must come together to reach the beginning, in order to guarantee a certain level.