Matej Mohoric ready to try and defend gravel world title and expects surprises - "Last year Wout van Aert was favourite and didn’t win"

Matej Mohoric is an extremely talented rider and bike handler; and because of the latter he is also a natural for gravel racing. He proved this by becoming World Champion last year in Veneto; but will have a much more difficult task this time around, specially coming from injury.

Recently ahead of a Gravel World Series race which he intented to use as preparation, the Bahrain - Victorious rider crashed and was forced to change his preparation. “I hurt my hand in Girona so I had to skip the road Worlds, but it’s getting better and doesn’t hurt too much any more; I’m fit to race on Sunday," Mohoric said in a press release.

"The parcours is faster and a little bit less technical than last year, so it will be harder to make the difference. I think the groups will be bigger, and come to the line in a bunch for a reduced sprint. I’ll do everything I can to try and defend my title, but it’s certainly not going to be easy … there are some big names on the startlist!”

In Leuven, he will have to face off against many of the world's best both in road racing and outside; including many cyclocross pros, Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Stuyven and others. But Mohoric doesn't come isolated into the race, as he is joined by teammate and compatriot Matevz Govekar who won the very same race in Girona which Mohoric was planning to use to prime his form for this weekend.

Both will be able to help each other in the treacherous event. "I’m quite excited and I’m super motivated. I like racing on gravel because it’s a little bit different to racing on the road: a bit harder but at the same time more fun. Let’s see what happens," Mohoric continued. "We’ll recon the course on Friday. After that we’ll fine tune my setup and my Merida Silex bike, choose the right tyres for Sunday, and hopefully I can have a clear run for once this season. I’ve not been too lucky with crashes and mechanicals this year, but I hope Sunday will be different. My sole objective is to give my best and try to win it again!"

Team DS Franco Pellizzoti has been with the Slovenian duo in Belgium working ahead of the worlds, and has given his opinion on what to expect this weekend: "It’s a less challenging route than last year, with fewer testing climbs. There is a total of about 110 kilometres of gravel, and it’s a really fast course. We’re here with two riders: Matevž and Matej. Govekar won two weeks ago at an important lead-up race in Girona. Matej isn’t at 100% after crash at the same race, but I’m sure he can do well and be a real help to Matevž too".

"I expect a hard race: the level is high because it’s a World Championships. Mathieu van der Poel is on the startlist, and he’s the king on this surface so is the rightful favourite, but then again, last year Wout van Aert was favourite and didn’t win. On gravel anything can happen; we’ll do the best we can on the day and hope to get another top result.”