Marianne Vos triumphs over Lotte Kopecky in epic duel at Gravel World Championships

First of all: what a splendid starting field it was we saw take off at noon on Saturday for the Gravel World Championships in Leuven, Belgium. Despite the toll taken by the road race in the World Championships in Zürich, which saw riders like Mischa Bredewold, defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma, Justine Ghekiere and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot withdraw, the front row still featured only top-category riders.

Kopecky, who gets to call herself the world champion after Zürich, was the star, but with riders like Vos, Lorena Wiebes, Puck Pieterse, Riejanne Markus, Lucinda Brand, Shirin van Anrooij and Fem van Empel also in the race, it was the Dutch team that made the biggest impact in terms of depth. Add to that a group of top cyclo-cross riders, some successful road cyclists and pure gravel specialists, and you know you're in for a spectacle.

At noon, the riders set off for a loop around Halle, an intermediate section towards Leuven, and a local circuit around the finish line. In the opening phase, the peloton stayed together relatively well, but after just over an hour of racing, a lead group of eleven women emerged. Naturally, Kopecky was up there, along with a strong Dutch contingent featuring Pieterse, Brand, Vos and Wiebes. Also present were Luxembourg's Marie Schreiber and Christine Majerus, Italy's Letizia Borghesi and Soraya Paladin, Denmark's Emma Norsgaard and Germany's Romy Kasper.

In the background, it was all hands on deck. The cooperation at the front wasn't perfect, allowing about thirty women to rejoin, but a crash at the entrance to the Zoniënwoud once again reduced the pack. At 65 kilometers from the finish, when the live TV coverage began, a lead group of four had formed, consisting of Kopecky, Vos, Wiebes and Paladin.

From four, the group shrank to two: Vos and Kopecky. Wiebes dropped Paladin but had to close the gap to the leaders on her own. Meanwhile, her compatriot Vos was cooperating with Kopecky, who is Wiebes' teammate at SD Worx-Protime. Tactics, tactics, tactics — that’s also part of the Gravel World Championships.

By the time they reached the finish line, it was clear that the race for the win would be between Vos and Kopecky, as Wiebes was gradually being reeled in by Paladin, Pieterse, Kasper and Australian Nicole Frain. As they entered the local circuit around Leuven, the selection had been made, but that didn’t dampen the excitement on this sunny Saturday in Leuven.

Kopecky tried to make life difficult for her opponent several times in the final 30 kilometers, but Vos held her ground. With 20 kilometers to go, it was the Dutch rider’s turn to launch an attack, but the Belgian was quick to respond with a counter-acceleration. They didn’t have to worry about the chasers, as they had secured a nice lead of three to four minutes.

The two women were evenly matched, but with 1.5 kilometers to go, Vos made another attempt to shake off her rival. The Belgian didn’t budge, leading to a sprint finish in Leuven. Kopecky was forced to take the lead, and Vos launched her sprint first. Kopecky could not match her efforts, and so Vos added a new discipline to her already impressive list of world championships. Wiebes completed the podium by finishing third, ahead of Pieterse.