Mid Michigan Cycling Club

“Gravel biking—bike racing on off-road paths—is having a moment. By popular demand Strava, an exercise app, added an option to log gravel-biking journeys in 2022; activity shot up in 2023. Advocates say that gravel is a less intimidating prospect than road cycling, partly because it has a more adventurous spirit and welcoming culture. The Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling’s governing body, has taken notice. It now organises a world championship for the sport. The third edition takes place in Leuven in Belgium this weekend.

Elite competitors are split between established road racers, such as Mathieu van der Poel and Marianne Vos, two Dutch superstars, and gravel specialists, such as Ted King, an American, and Tiffany Cromwell, an Australian. Last year two road racers—Slovenia’s Matej Mohoric and Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma—took the honours. But as the discipline matures and more gravel-specific skills emerge, roadies will probably find it harder to keep pace.”
-The Economist

🎥 "We rode in MVDP zone": part-time teammate captures and explains Van der Poel and co's Gravel Worlds recon This Sunday, the Gravel World Championship will take

“The 31-year-old Alaska native is the first American to win a road race medal of any color since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, when Connie Carpenter and Alexi Grewal swept the gold medals. She can now defend her medal in L.A. in 2028.”

U.S. cyclist Faulkner stuns with breakaway, wins American cyclist Kristen Faulkner won the women's road race in a major upset, using an attack with just more than 2 miles remaining to ride to the gold medal.