Mathieu van der Poel wins the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships

Reigning UCI Cyclocross World Champion adds the new UCI Gravel Fondo World Champion Rainbow Jersey to his palmarès in Flanders, Belgium

In Leuven, the Dutchman proved to be the strongest in the race and put in a masterful performance to add the new rainbow jersey to his collection.

The 180-kilometer race contained a lot of the best road specialists, cyclocross riders and anything inbetween including all the age group riders from around the world riding the same course.

The chaotic race required the best bike technique, and it didn't take long until serious attacks started. Van der Poel attacked with 110km to go and He was brought back by the leading breakaway group containing Jasper Stuyven (Belgium), Florian Vermeersch (Belgium), Quinten Hermans (Belgium), Toon Aerts (Belgium), Xandro Meurisse (Belgium), Timo Kielich (Belgium), Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium), Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands),Matej Mohoric (Slovenia) and Connor Swift (Great Britain).

Tiesj Benoot, punctured and had to stop for a wheel change and was 2 minutes behind and never got back to the leading group.

With 68 km to go, the lead group contained 16 riders: Stuyven, Merlier, F.Vermeersch, G.Vermeersch, Hermans, Aerts, Meurisse, Kielich, Panhuyzen, Naesen (all Belgium), Van der Poel, Ottema (both Netherlands), Mohoric, Govekar (both Slovenia), Swift (Great Britain), Lindberg (Denmark).

There were 10  Belgians in the leading group.

With 60 km to go MVDP attacked with British rider Connor Swift following. Eventually with 54km to go the leading group was whittled down to Stuyven, F.Vermeersch, G.Vermeersch, Hermans, Van der Poel, Mohoric and Swift. Stuyven was the first Belgian to attack but was brough back by Swift. 

With 39 km to go, van der Poel attacked and only F.Vermeersch could follow. They quickly built up a lead of 1m 25s. Behind Stuyven, G.Vermeersch, Hermans, Mohoric and Swift ducked it out for Bronze.

With 13km to go MVDP attacked and F.Vermeersch couldn't follow and soloed to the finish line. Behind, Hermans took Bronze in the final sprint.

"It was a big goal for me. It's super nice to add another rainbow to the collection in another discipline as well, I'm super happy with this one. It's super nice also to finish the season like this, it's amazing," van der Poel said in the post-race interview. He was the favourite to win, and sealed the deal with a stellar performance that included attacks all throughout the race.

"I wanted to make the race as hard as possible because I knew that in the local lap, with a big group, it could be a difficult situation for me," he explains. It is a tactic that works for the explosive rider, who is used to this type of off-road racing. Eventually, amongst the many Belgians, he found an ideal attacking partner.

"So I tried to put everybody on the limit and when Florian Vermeersch went and we were the two of us, we had a good cooperation," he added. Vermeersch beat him in a sprint at Paris-Roubaix in 2021, so he knew he couldn't take him all the way to the finish line.

"You never know. My legs were also hurting, I tried one last time on the final hard part of the course and found myself alone so it's always nice to celebrate like this," he concluded. Van der Poel will take time to debut this jersey - the same way he hasn't yet debuted his cyclocross world champion's jersey - but he will eventually show off as he is clearly one of the best riders in the discipline. "Like I said I enjoyed it and I'm super happy with the title".

Van der Poel took the Netherlands' second world title after Marianne Vos did the same this Saturday, arriving to Leuven in style. 

VIDEO: UCI Gravel World Championship Highlights

2024 Men's UCI Gravel World Championships Top 10

01  van der Poel Mathieu  04:41:23
02  Vermeersch Florian  + 01:03
03  Hermans Quinten  + 03:47
04  Stuyven Jasper  + 03:47
05  Vermeersch Gianni  + 03:47
06  Swift Connor  + 03:47
07  Mohoric Matej  + 03:47
08  Merlier Tim  + 04:15
09  Kielich Timo  + 04:15
10  Aerts Toon  + 04:15

2024 UCI Gravel World Championships Age Group Category Winners