Tadej Pogacar has finished his season at Il Lombardia, in the best way he could imagine - a revalidation of his title, making it two for two in the final monument of the season. The following day he travelled to Veneto to watch the Gravel World Championships, and has revealed an urge to be a part of it.
“For sure I’d have loved to race the Gravel World Championship. Gravel racing is something fairly new, especially in Europe, and it’s the first World Championships. In the future I’d love to race for the gravel rainbow jersey," the UAE Team Emirates rider told Cyclingnews in Italy, as he watched Gianni Vermeersch be crowned the first UCI World Champion in the discipline, with Daniel Oss and Mathieu van der Poel completing the podium.
“I came here to see the gravel World Championships as a fan of the sport, and to enjoy it all. I’d have loved to be at the start and in the action but it was also nice to be watching at the finish too, seeing the guys racing," he said. "I don’t do that often, so it was a great opportunity. It’s going to be interesting to watch how gravel racing develops in the years ahead.”
Pogacar has a background in cyclocross, and has on several occasions shown his talent on the bike both in cobbled races and at Strade Bianche, a race he's won this year. Similarly to Strade Bianche, Gravel racing revolves around the very same type of sectors. “If you can do it and if you can win in the different disciplines, why not mix things up during your career?” he said.
“We’ve got some great riders doing different kinds of racing at the moment. We’ve got a new gravel world champion in Gianni Vermeersch and he is also a talented cyclocross rider and races on the road too," he continued, having taken pictures with some of the protagonists, shared on Instagram.
“Mathieu van der Poel has done that perhaps better than anyone and other riders do it too. Look at Peter Sagan, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock.. They’ve shown that they’re good at everything and often the best too," he said, hinting he may be ambitioning similar to his fellow superstars.
“I don’t have a lot of gravel experience yet. But I like mountain biking, I like cyclo-cross and I don’t think gravel is too far away from road racing. I need to try it soon. Maybe we can find room in my calendar to ride a gravel race next year, I really hope so," he concluded.
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