Can we please end this “it wasn’t a proper gravel race” junk.
Every bit of feedback I’ve read from the actual riders said it was legit. Most said it was extremely hard. Some saying it’s the hardest day they’ve had on a bike.
The best rider won on the day. The ‘gravel’ riders did very well. Some fantastic results. Folks expecting them to win were dreaming IMO. The women’s world tour riders are incredible. Demi Vollering has w/kg records that many males would be happy with.
It’s still math. Demi is reported to be 5.5w/kg ish at FTP. That’s incredible strength and far higher than any female gravel racer I’ve seen. If any female rider was as strong as Demi, she’d literally have a chance at winning the Tour de France…
Even with it being her 2nd gravel race, she made the podium. Power is power. She’s so strong that it covers any issues she has technically. Not that I think she has any.
Kasia is also a fantastic rider and a very skilled descender. It sounds like she made an attack on the final climb and put time in the decent. A great win.
Ridiculous that we didn’t get to see it.
Screw the UCI for blaming the local organizer. They’ve had weeks to sort it. Them claiming they didn’t know there was no coverage is straight up lies.
Way to go on gender parity UCI… muppets.
On a positive note, we’ll actually be able to see the men’s race tonight.