Preview World Gravel Championship women 2024| 5/8 of Dutch World Cup road team will Kopecky again

Exactly one week after the battle for the World Championship on the road, it is already time for the next World Championships in Belgium this year, the World Gravel Championships. Between Halle and Leuven, a powerful group of women will compete for the world title on Saturday, and IDLProCycling.com is happy to tell you all about it.

The World Gravel Championship has only a short history, but that is no disadvantage. At the first edition in 2022, cycling phenomenon Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won Cittadella; last year, current Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma showed off her skills. This just points out how quickly this race is gaining status, which is also reflected in this year's starting list.

Practical information World Gravel Championship women 2024

• Saturday, Oct. 5, Halle - Leuven 
• Participants
  
• Classification: World Championship

In this article

• Latest winners
• Parcous, weather and times
• Favorites
• TV information

Latest winners World Gravel Championship Women

2023 Kasia Niewiadoma
2022 Pauline Ferrand-Prévot

World Gravel Championship women 2024: Course, weather and times

The World Gravel Championship races start on the Possozplein in Halle, southwest of Brussels. The riders lap around the start point, mainly on farm tracks and some asphalt roads. After 12.5 kilometers, they cross Halle again, from where they head towards Leuven.

The riders will then continue to the so-called green lung of Brussels, also known as the Brabantse Wouden National Park. That means the participants will pass through the gravel paths of the Lembeekbos, Hallerbos, Zoniënwoud, and Meerdaalwoud towards the finish line. Leuven hosted another World Road Cycling Championship in 2021, a great success.

Just before reaching Leuven, the riders still have to climb the cobblestones of the Ramberg. This lies 1.8 kilometers from the finish, after which the last gravel section of the Donatus Park awaits the finishers at 1.5 kilometers from the finish. The finish is located right in front of the Leuven train station. The ladies ride one local lap in and around Leuven on Saturday, and the men work two on Sunday. This means they will ride 135 kilometers.

Weather
It will be dry in Leuven on Saturday, with a temperature of 17 degrees Celsius. This, in combination with a breeze, makes it a pleasant race in the woods, which may be a bit greasy after the many rains.

Times
Start: 12:00 p.m.
Finish: 3:30 .pm.

Favorites World Gravel Championship women 2024:

For the women, there is no Tour of Lombardy or Paris-Tours for the time being, which means the organization of the World Gravel Championship can count on a rock-solid field of competitors on Saturday. Lotte Kopecky, the lady who renewed her world road title last Saturday in Zurich, will be a big crowd-pleaser. Afterward, she hinted in Switzerland that she would now take up the gravel bike. What will that bring on Saturday?

Kopecky defeated a whole bunch of Dutch ladies. Unlike last year, Demi Vollering will not be there at the World Gravel Championships, but from the Dutch World Championship team, Marianne Vos, Puck Pieterse, Riejanne Markus, Thalita de Jong, and Mischa Bredewold are participating. Five strong ladies who were not allowed to drink champagne on Saturday will soon be given a second chance.

And they are certainly not the only strong women from our country competing. Let's also mention Lorena Wiebes, Fem van Empel, Lucinda Brand, Tessa Neefjes. Shirin van Anrooij, Yara Kastelijn, Annemarie Worst, Femke de Vries, and so on: the orange shirts are certainly not short of quality.

Kopecky has Julie De Wilde at her side, among others, while the rest is looking forward to former winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France), good cyclists like Blanka Vas (Hungary), Marie Schreiber (Luxembourg)and Silvia Persico (Italy), road racers like Neve Bradury, Sarah Gigante (Australia), Emma Norsgaard (Denmark), and specialists like Lauren Stephens (United States) and Carolina Schiff from Germany.

According to IDLProCycling.com, who are the favorites for the World Gravel Championship women 2024:?

Top favorite: Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) and Marianne Vos (Netherlands)
Outsiders: Blanka Vas (Hungary), Puck Pieterse, Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) and Silvia Persico (Italy)
Long shots: Lucinda Brand, Fem van Empel, Mischa Bredewold, Riejanne Markus (Netherlands), Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France), Julie De Wilde (Belgium), Marie Schreiber (Luxembourg) and Emma Norsgaard (Denmark)

TV World Gravel Championship women 2024:

Sporza is providing live coverage of the gravel World Cup this weekend. On Saturday, you can switch on from 2:15 p.m. on VRT 1. The NOS will have a stream on NOS.nl starting at the same time. Eurosport shows online footage via Discovery+ or HBO Max.

The calendar for the new cyclo-cross season is now online! Check it out here. Or check out our general calendars for the remainder of the season for the men and women's races.