Gravel World Champion Matej Mohoric against gravel at Tour de France: "I'm not sure if it has a place in a Grand Tour"
Cycling
Matej Mohoric is one of the most talented bike handlers in the peloton and the recently crowned Gravel World Champion. Still, he is not particularly in favour of it's use in the 2024 Tour de France.
“I'm not sure. I think it's still road cycling. I understand that most guys, especially the GC guys, put so many months of work into this and for a puncture or a crash to ruin or limit their chances, it's a little bit of a tricky situation," Mohoric told Cyclingnews. "I'm not sure if it has a place in a Grand Tour. "Maybe they could at least figure out a rule to not use it on GC but on the other hand, maybe the GC is a reward for the most complete rider, so it's it's a discussion, it's an open discussion. At the end of the day, it's the organisers who decide.”
Whilst Mohoric is not planning on racing for the yellow jersey, he worries that the 32 kilometers of off-road racing on stage 9 of next year's Tour will cause chaos. Whilst spectacle is promised, crashes become quite a serious risk, and punctures are also certain. The GC riders may suffer from a lot of bad luck which can negatively impact the race he believes. The Slovenian will have two compatriots who are set to fight for the win into Nice.
As for himself, he is likely to return and in search of another stage win as he obtained this past summer. “I didn't check it yet in detail. But I don't mind the gravel stage in there. I just know that with gravel there's always chaos, so I have the luxury of not caring about the GC and I can take more risks to try and exploit the opportunity," he says. “My goal is going to be to stage wins again, so hopefully, there will be chances for breakaways.”
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Matej Mohoric is the gravel world champion! 🇸🇮🌈 Slovenia keeps winning both on the road and off-road, the golden age continues. #Veneto2023
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