• Blog
  • Take a look on course of Gravel Worlds

Take a look on course of Gravel Worlds

2024-07-22

The cycling season is in full swing. The highlight of the 2024 gravel calendar, the Bolero UCI Gravel World Championships, taking place in Belgium on October 5-6, might still seem far off, but the organizers revealed the course as early as March. Superior, the event's official bike partner, headed to the venue with its ambassadors to ride key sections of the route.

Category:

The race kicks off in the town of Halle and finishes in Leuven, the cradle of cycling. After all, the 2021 UCI Road World Championships started here. The gravel world championship course is unique, winding through the beautiful landscapes of the "Brabantse Wouden" National Park, a distinctive reserve known for its open landscapes and historic tree-lined avenues. The region is a true paradise for those who love gravel roads, short but tough climbs, and paths carved into the countryside. Both Elite men and Elite women will ride the 86 km stretch from Halle to Leuven, before completing one or two laps around Leuven respectively. This will be incredibly spectator-friendly, as fans in Leuven will get to see the peloton pass by three times. Course director Erwin Vervecken adds, "This year's world championship course is truly unique. We've managed to create a route with minimal asphalt sections, it's technically very challenging, and also very spectator-friendly."

A team consisting of Superior representatives and riders Bram Tankink, a multiple Tour de France participant, and Mickaël Crispin, a French cyclocross rider, hit the key sections of the course on May 9.

"We rode through parts of the Brabantse Wouden, and I must say, the course is an absolute treat for gravel enthusiasts. I'm not sure if I'll enjoy it as much during the race as I did riding it (laughs)," says Bram with a smile.

_"My cyclocross skills will come in handy, the course is full of tricky sections, and quite a bit of it is on cobblestones,"_ notes Mickaël, who successfully combines cyclocross and gravel racing. They will be joined by other factory riders for the race, including Jaroslav Kulhavý and Filip Adel from the Czech Republic, and Arne Janssens, a Belgian MTB racer who rides for the JB Brunex Superior team and recently qualified for the gravel world championships.