The 2022 UCI Gravel World Championships have been proven to be very successful with a startlist full of stars and races who showed a lot of excitement, grinta and two great new world champions.
The races on both days started in three waves with always the elites in front, followed by age groups.
In the race on Saturday, a group of 6 split up after the hilly zone in the first 20km. A large group came back in the central flat and fast part around Padova, but Pauline Ferrand Prevot (FRA), Sina Frei (SUI), Jade Treffeisen (GER), Lauren Stephens (USA) and Chiara Teocchi (ITA) managed to escape again in the second half.
Stephens was the only one to get dropped so the final was a battle between four along the Cittadella walls with Ferrand Prevot and Frei making a small gap in the last offroad sections to sprint for the world title. Pauline Ferrand Prevot managed to outsprint Frei to take her fourth rainbow jersey of 2022 after she already won road, mtb and cyclocross world titles in the past. Chiara Teocchi got the bronze medal.
In the men elite race on Sunday, Miguel Angel Lopez (COL) tried with an early attack, having Magnus Cort-Niels (DEN), Matthew Beers (RSA) and Samuele Zoccarato (ITA) with him, but the gap was closed after 30k. A big group of more than 30 riders got formed from which Gianni Vermeersch (BEL) and Daniel Oss (ITA) got away with 120km to go.
They quickly made a gap of 5 minutes to the main pack to go into the final two local laps where Vermeersch made the difference on the last single track section to finish in Cittadella with 30 seconds ahead of Daniel Oss who won the silver medal. Behind these two, Mathieu van der Poel (NED) and Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) sprinted for bronze with van der Poel finally taking the last medal on the line.
