Greg van Avermaet points at Mathieu van der Poel as main favourite for Gravel World Championships: "That guy has the skills, has the legs, and has the knowledge"

Greg van Avermaert retired from pro cycling but has not stopped his time on the bike. He has taken to triathlon, but mainly gravel racing. After performing strongly over the year he's earned his way into the World Championships this weekend and believes Mathieu van der Poel is the main favourite.

"If you have to pick one name where you have to put your money on, I think probably it will be Mathieu. I think if you see his level from last week on a parcours that maybe is not the best for him, then I think you can expect that he gonna be the winner on Sunday," 'Golden Greg' has told Cyclingnews.

"So I think that guy has the skills, has the legs, and has the knowledge of. I like it that he's here, it's good for the event. I kind of like it when those guys are interested to do this kind of stuff."

The course this Sunday is Leuven is close to home for the former Road Race Olympic Champion and he is highly motivated to perform. Alongside the likes of Jasper Stuyven, Florian and Gianni Vermeersch he is one of Belgium's biggest hopes and realistically, in a race where chaos can thrive, he does stand a chance to conquer the rainbow jersey.

He has talked extensively about his own feelings and post-pro racing feelings, but summed up it is quite clear that he isn't just participating for fun. "I will try to do my best. I have, of course, the skills and the knowledge how to do it, but sometimes the legs don't respond that good anymore to what you want. But I think I have a decent level. It's not so far away from home. And then I was also thinking, why not? Why not try." The likes of Matej Mohorric and Isaac Del Toro will also be very interesting riders to follow this Sunday.