02.10.2024 World-Tour, News, Race news

THREE CANYON//SRAM RACING RIDERS AT GRAVEL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Three riders from CANYON//SRAM Racing will line up at the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships on Saturday 5 October in Belgium. Tiffany Cromwell and Neve Bradbury (Australia) and Soraya Paladin (Italy) will compete for their respective nations. Reigning world champion Kasia Niewiadoma will not be defending her title, taking the decision to end her immensely successful 2024 season following the UCI Road World Championships in Switzerland last weekend.

Tiffany is fresh from a win at the most recent UCI Gravel World Series at Sea Otter Europe. The Australian rider also won the European Gravel Championships in 2023 held on a similar course to what will be raced on Saturday.

Tiffany said, “The course is very much a Belgium spring classics style, with some added farm tracks and forest trails to add the ‘gravel element’. I like it. It’s rolling, a little punchy in parts. Fast and technical. It has a bit of everything. It’s a bit harder than the 2022 world’s course but isn’t as hard as last year’s. The course suits my strengths, and I proved that when I won last year’s European championships, which was a race on some of the same courses and had similar characteristics.

It’s a very open course though and less selective than last year, so it will be a tough battle to come out on top, especially with the number of top riders from all disciplines coming to the start line. But I’m excited about it and ready to give it my best shot.

Winning the Gravel World Series at Sea Otter Europe boosted my confidence. The course didn’t suit me and I didn’t have the best race in the early part. Through a lot of mental strength and suffering, I could fight all day and come back to put myself in a position to fight for the win. I know the fitness and strength are there. I just need the pieces to come together on the day.”

Kasia said, “After such an intense year, or let’s say summertime, filled with lots of emotions, ups and downs, I decided to close my 2024 season and skip defending my rainbow title! I want to focus on recovery, time spent with my close ones, and celebrating everything that happened this year! I wish all the participants a lot of luck, and thank you for the immense support I’ve been getting from all of you!”