Lorena Wiebes Beats Marianne Vos in Sprint for Gold at Gravel World Championships

Lorena Wiebes crowned herself elite women’s gravel world champion in South Limburg. After the breakaway Shirin van Anrooij was caught at the last moment, Wiebes proved faster in a sprint from a small group than defending champion Marianne Vos. Italian Silvia Persico completed the podium.

The women started a little after 11:00 am from Beek for a 131-kilometer race over unpaved roads and through the Limburg hills. There was no early breakaway. There were several attacks, but no one managed to open a big gap. However, the Dutch riders showed themselves at the front. Among others, Shirin van Anrooij, Geerike Schreurs, and Femke de Vries pushed the pace about eighty kilometers from the finish.

Not long after, Lorena Wiebes also began to stir. With Silvia Persico (Italy) on her wheel, she increased the pressure, causing the peloton to thin out further. At fifty kilometers from the finish, a dangerous leading group formed. The Dutch Maud Rijnbeek and Femke Gerritse rode away with the German Romy Kaspers. Defending champion Marianne Vos and Wiebes sensed the threat and bridged across. Suddenly, we had four orange jerseys in a breakaway of five.

Vos and Wiebes break away
The lead of the group of five grew to almost a minute, but the second group hadn’t completely settled yet. Especially Persico kept the tempo high, but the gap only really began to close when Femke de Vries launched a counterattack and further accelerations followed from Femke Markus and Van Anrooij. A small group with five Dutch riders (Larissa Hartog and Yara Kastelijn not mentioned yet), but also Persico and Julia Kopecky (Czech Republic) broke off. At 35 kilometers from the finish, they were within fifteen seconds of the leaders.

It seemed the chasers would catch the breakaway in one go, but the difference hovered between ten and twenty seconds for a long time. Up front, meanwhile, it started to get restless. Between kilometers 25 and 20 to go, Vos attacked multiple times, but her main rival Wiebes always had an answer. Rijnbeek, Gerritse, and Kaspers had to drop back and fell into the Markus-Van Anrooij group.

Regrouping
Vos then tested Wiebes again on a short climb, but the two Dutch riders stayed together for the time being. At 17 kilometers from the finish, however, they were joined. First by Persico, then also by Van Anrooij, Rijnbeek, De Vries, Markus, and Kopecky. Eventually, Kastelijn and Hartog also caught up. Just before the Bronsdalweg, the ultimate challenger on the world championship course, we were back to a group of ten riders.

Kastelijn powers through on the Bronsdalweg - photo: Fotopersburo Cor Vos[/caption]

In the buildup to the Bronsdalweg – a one-kilometer climb averaging eight percent – De Vries and Markus anticipated. However, on the first part of the climb, another regrouping followed. Kastelijn began to push the pace. Then Vos attacked, but Kastelijn quickly took over again. Wiebes had to give a little gap but then reattached her wheel. At the top, Persico also rejoined, shortly after followed by Van Anrooij and Kopecky.

Will Van Anrooij make it?
At twelve kilometers from the finish, the recently returned Van Anrooij rode away. She quickly gained twenty seconds, but at that moment Kopecky (now racing for the Czech Republic, but Wiebes’s teammate at SD Worx-Protime for the rest of the year) was driving the chase. As a result, the gap remained stable for a long time. The gap even shrank a bit, but at two kilometers out, Van Anrooij still had a fourteen-second lead. At that moment Kastelijn accelerated in the chasing group, narrowing the gap further.

Van Anrooij started the final kilometer with a lead but ultimately just couldn't hold on. Kastelijn took the lead again and positioned Wiebes to win. Wiebes launched the sprint herself and only had to hold off Vos. The latter nearly came level with her rival but then had to concede. That’s how Wiebes claimed the world title. Vos finished second, Persico took bronze.