My experience at the UCI Gravel World Series gravel race, Hutchinson Ranxo, in Ponts, Catalunya, Spain. Among the competition were 2018 road World Champion, Alejandro Valverde and current Movistar WorldTour pro cyclist, Ivan Garcia Cortina.
See the race on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9200179877
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00:00 Intro
00:45 About the Ranxo
02:47 BMC race bike
04:18 Race day
05:42 KM1
10:23 Post-race thoughts
11:53 How the race unfolded
12:54 WorldTour cyclist power output
16:37 Feed zones
18:25 Disappointment
19:50 What I learned
This race was a qualifying round for the UCI Gravel World Championships happening in Veneto, Italy at the start of October. Last year gravel World Champs was dominated by Alpecin–Deceuninck team rider Gianni Vermeersch, along with Daniel Oss, Mathiew Van Der Poel, Peter Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet, Magnus Cort-Nielsen, Piotr Havik, Alessandro De Marchi, Nathan Haas and Lachlan Morton. The women’s race was won by Pauline Ferrand-Privot, Sara Mazzorana and Chiara Ciuffini. The Hutchinson Ranxo featured more than 800 male and female riders across three different race distances, including multiple road, gravel and mountain bike professional cyclists who live in Girona, Catalunya, Andorra and France.
39 Comments
Losing is a great learning experience if you are willing to listen to the lessons, which it sounds like you are. I am having a great time living vicariously through you. You helped get me back on the bike, but there is no competitive racing in my future, just lots of fun rides. Hopefully one day Girona. Keep busting your butt mate.
That is a lot closer to what Gravel should be as compared to the “UCI WORLD GRAVEL CHAMPIONSHIP”.
The World Champ should be the winner of UNBOUND!
Great video Tristan … hate to say it, GoPro adds 10 watts, just sayin’ 😂
Gravel riding is like riding an Ergo trainer, as soon as you stop pedaling, game over!
kudos to you nonetheless, great achievement – great breakdown, you look like you had fun, you did your best now know what's required next time. did you use a heart rate monitor? it sounds like your effort level was always near the upper edge and therefore you had no buffer to chase/hold back on etc. as you said; gravel or dirt is simply higher resistance riding and economy through the terrain plays a bigger role, the torque requirement and torque endurance is significant compared to road. I've found you can only prepare by riding gravel or zwifting (never stop pedaling) in tt mode at 3-4 w/kg and to then deal with the accumulated fatigue whilst still pushing the pedals at a decent power.
Gravel really doesn't suit small w/kg type riders well. There is significantly higher rolling resistance the entire time and it's a greater percentage of a smaller riders lower total power. Very climby courses can help, but basically gravel really suits mid size high total power riders. Additionally, to excel at gravel you have to be able to maintain extremely high carbohydrate rates. You'll need to practice maintaining 120g an hour at a 1:1 fructose/glucose ratio for full race distances. This high fueling is vital for success in gravel.
Interesting analysis. Valverde on the hot sauce.
Why are feedzones in gravel races now like F1 pitstops? I have already seen this at unbound.
Great filming…almost felt like I was riding myself. … and jeahhh, there is always someone better. Thanks for shearing your experiences..keep on going!
Nice to see you have finally come round and upgraded the coffee machine!
So great, so useful video 🙌
Tristan, you are a gentleman. Thanks for all the tips
absolutely amazing race. At the risk of being overly pedantic, there is only one road world cycling champion (which is the current one), Valverde is a former world champion.
Nailed the learnings and opportunities. Went through the exact same ones my first few races – it's so hard to wrap your mind around emptying the tank the opening 10K (of a long race), and then letting the "actual race" begin. You'll do better on the next one. Cheers.
Fair play Tristan, great video. Failures are a more important part of trying to race a bike at all levels so this helps to the lower levels like me. Even looking at yours as impressive and seeing the same feelings is good to see that we all go through it 👍
Great effort even giving it a go given the calibre of riders on the start line
Was this the same race Lawrence did
The rolling resistance of gravel means you need a lot more power to get up clubs and ride in general and it wears you down
Would be interesting to know how the top guys train for gravel racing
Once again, a great video. I hope you don’t give up on gravel racing.
Great vid Tristan. I did the Limburg gravel race, and my biggest lesson was to eat allot earlier than you would on a road race. As you said once you blow, there’s no coming back
Fantastic vlog Tristan and awesome onboard footage during the race. But man, that looked tough. Well done. 👏😊
Well done anyway 👍
this is what mountain bike racing feels like ……welcome to hell 👿
Greta video Tristan, have you reviewed your eq choice? 45mm tyres is pretty wide for a race. I wonder if most guys rode 38mm with lower rolling resistance I expect that would have helped you conserve energy over the 5 hours. As a smaller rider you would be putting out a greater % of your power than the bigger guys.
Thanks for this video Tristan! Always interesting to see the pics and hear your analysis. We learn little from our successes but much from our failings.
6:57 the sign of a true videographer. 😊Beautifully made. Thanks. Joy to watch
Great video, thanks a lot! Did you take Heinz beans as a pre race meal? Genuinely interested 😊
Could of been worse ! You could of been riding unbound instead with those ultra close tyre clearances and all than thick thick clingy mud !
Great video Tristan. Looking fwd to following your next gravel adventures. I've a feeling you'll be surprised how much you'll improve in the next handful of races 😊
I feel you, im semi pro and sometimes i dont get the reselts i want even if people say wel done i still have big expections.
I would think about skinnier tires, a bit faster on the tame sections helping you to hold wheels and to close gaps. The 45's are good for the single track but you're not going to gain positions anyways.
Great video thanks for the analysis. Haven't done any gravel races but have been in many xc mtb bike races in Australia and it is exactly like this at the start. I'd say training on the fire roads here, mashing pedals like going nowhere will definitely help! I've never used a hydration pack for the reasons you state as well. Not just extra weight, I'm sure it traps heat on your back. Looks like smaller tires and a more roadie bike was the call. Congrats on finishing and with the quality footage!
I love your videos they’re so good keep up the great work!
Tristan, that's how I feel every time I step up a group road cycling the gap opens, I can close it twice, but then is grows very steadily then exponentially! I keep telling myself if I could have clung on up the last climb….. It's a great leveller. However, next time…..Great honest video.
Great job bro, gravel is a different sport, you’ll do way better on the next one, nothing to be disappointed about
Great effort. When you look back on your data, how did you do? Absolute measures like place don’t provide context for evaluating how you really did…. Awesome video – thanks.
I heard that UCI had changed it's name to FUCI. Maybe I heard wrong.
Way to put yourself out there, some great learning lessons, looking forward to seeing how all these adjustments lead to improvements in more efficient gains….when is your the next gravel race?