The first gravel world championship already has a champion.
Belgian Gianni Vermeersch won the race held in Veneto (Italy) this Sunday.
Vermeersch broke away from the main group with more than 140 kilometers to go.
Daniel Oss broke away next to him in a risky move that ended up being the masterpiece of the race.
The two cyclists came to have a 6-minute lead over the main group.
Some riders from the main group, led by Greg van Avermaet, went on the hunt with 20 kilometers to go and came within two minutes of the breakaways.
However, although the comeback seemed possible, it did not happen.
With less than 6 kilometers to go, Vermeersch went on the attack and Oss, his accomplice until now, could not follow him.
The winner crossed the finish line with a comfortable lead of 43 seconds.
The fight for bronze was also interesting in a race of 194 kilometers and with little difference in altitude.
Mathieu van der Poel, a four-time cyclocross world champion and one of the favorites to win the rainbow jersey in Veneto, sprinted past Greg van Avermaet to take third place.
Of the Spanish representation in the competition, Carlos Verona obtained the best result by finishing 26th.
The first gravel world championship, a cycling modality in which bicycles maintain a frame similar to that of road bikes, but the wheels are adapted to circulate on dirt tracks.
The first World Championship of the specialty has brought together great figures of cycling.
Peter Sagan, Alexey Ltusenko, Magnus Cort or Miguel Ángel López are other illustrious runners who have participated in the race.
In the women's competition, held this Saturday, the cyclist Pauline Ferrand-Prevot has won the rainbow jersey.
The Frenchwoman started as the favorite after having won three world championships this year in the marathon, XCO and
short track
modalities .
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