"I really suffered": Retired Greg van Avermaet reaches Top 20 at the World Gravel Championships

The level in the world of gravel continues to rise, and not even an Olympic champion like Greg Van Avermaet is exempt from feeling it. The Belgian cyclist, officially retired since 2023, participated this weekend in the UCI Gravel World Championship held between Beek and Maastricht (181.1 km), where he achieved a creditable 19th place after a tough day that he himself described as "very demanding".

"I really suffered," Van Avermaet confessed to WielerFlits after crossing the finish line more than five minutes behind the winner, his compatriot Florian Vermeersch (4:39:12). "I'm just below the level needed to keep up with the pace in the elite. Especially against the WorldTour riders, you can tell they have an extra. From the start to the finish, I was at my limit."

At 40, Van Avermaet remains competitive, but acknowledged that gravel at this level is "too fast a discipline to do after your professional career." He added that "there are no freebies and you have to pedal constantly. There is hardly any protection from the peloton and you need total concentration. The course was very technical, with a lot of fast corners that forced you to accelerate every time. You can't underestimate it."

The start of the race was especially tough, as he explained: "During the first two hours it was very difficult to stay well positioned. If you arrived in 80th position on a gravel section, you had to spend a lot of energy to get back to the front. I'm sure everyone ended up exhausted."

Despite the suffering, Van Avermaet was satisfied with his performance: "I got the most out of myself. You have to remember that I've been retired for two years. I still do some gravel riding, but the difference in level with the active WorldTour riders is very big. I can't be unhappy. For my chances, it was the perfect course."

He also had words of praise for the event in general, which he considers a good promotion for this emerging modality of cycling. "I think that on television it also looked very good. It's nice not to have a single group that stays together until the finish line. There was tactical play. It's a beautiful discipline, but also very hard," he said with a smile.

The race was dominated by Belgian Florian Vermeersch, who was crowned world champion after 181 kilometers of a challenging course. He was joined on the podium by Dutchman Frits Biesterbos, 40 seconds behind, and Slovenian Matej Mohorič, 1 minute and 23 seconds behind.

Van Avermaet's 19th place, more than 5 minutes behind the winner, places him as one of the best ex-professionals in the classification, in a competition that also featured other well-known names such as Jan Bakelants and Johnny Hoogerland, also retired from professional road cycling.