Great Britain's Madeleine 'Maddy' Nutt thrives on tests of endurance, be it long distances for racing or for travel. Her path to a second trip to the UCI Gravel World Championships in Belgium this weekend came by way of Kenya.
The 26-year-old qualified with a dominant performance at the UCI Gravel World Series race, Safari Gravel Race, just 12 days after finishing eighth at The Traka 360. Nutt also earned a podium at the four-day Migration Gravel Race and went second at the 240km Gravel México followed by another runner-up at Falling Leaves Lahti.
The Londoner spoke to Cyclingnews after a pre-ride of the Halle section of the world championship course, and admitted, "gravel racers have to step it up" against a massive contingency of road riders on Saturday.
"So this course is really interesting because I would say, it actually suits a road Classics rider more than it would suit a gravel racer. And I can totally see why riders like that are over here, competing for the rainbow stripes because they've probably got a very good shot. And it makes the race harder for us [gravel specialists]. It means that gravel riders have to step it up to be able to compete," she told Cyclingnews with her newly-acquired bib number in hand.
In the start grid for 138 women on Saturday, Nutt said she expected to be in the middle of the pack. The opening circuit around Halle was especially narrow, she noted, and patience would play a role in making moves to move up after the elite women's dedicated start at 12:00 on Saturday in Halle. The route opens up a bit through the Brabant forest, with many twists and turns into Leuven for a final circuit of 47km for a full 135km.
"So most of my gravel races have been non-UCI races, so I don't really have many UCI points, despite winning one of the World Series races. So yeah, I don't have a great starting position, I'm like 60-something. It's very narrow early on, but you know, I'll just do my best to try and move forward a bit, if I can."
Nutt was excited about the high level of competition and recognized a lot of the starter names from the world of road racing, like Belgian favourite Lotte Kopecky, who just defended her road race world title a week ago, and Olympic Games road race silver medallist Marianne Vos of the Netherlands, among others.
"I don't think you need a particular amount of skills to be able to ride this course. There's definitely elements of gravel and single track, but it's not like some of the other gravel races in the UCI World Series or other series. I can see why they'd come and attack this race," she said about the road pros lining up.
She qualified for the UCI Gravel Championships in 2023 as well, finishing 77th. Nutt was pleased to attain her goal to compete for Team Great Britain again, and this time see how she matches up against a much larger field with many newcomers to gravel, with participation up 55% for elite women.
"I feel, personally as someone who races predominantly gravel, there should be a level of commitment to gravel [in advance]. You should probably race one of the UCI World Series events before doing the World Champs because I know there are some road racers on the start list who have never done a gravel race in their life, and I do feel like that maybe shouldn't be happening. At least maybe one of the races, just to so you've at least shown interest before going for World Championships."
Kenya success
Nutt represented her Ribble Collective trade team at Gravel World Series race in Kenya, which was in Hells Gate National Park. She stayed in Kenya with a group of riders and raised the bar on her second appearance at Migration Gravel Race, which she called the highlight of her season, so far. That event, part of the Gravel Earth Series, covered 650km across four stages and accumulated 8,000 metres of climbing.
"Migration Gravel Race in Kenya, honestly, just the experience of the bonding you have with the other riders, from racing four days with Sarah Sturm [overall winner] and Luise Valentin [second place], it was just amazing. And the scenery, the animals, the terrain. It was a brutal race," she recalled.
"And I think how challenging that was, physically and mentally, made it way more of an experience I've walked away from than maybe, like a one-day UCI race. I'm not really sure how my skills over in Africa will come into fruition over here, but, you know, it'll be interesting."
Nutt raced Unbound Gravel 200 in 2023, noting, "I didn't have the best day out, it was an interesting one". She had a complicated travel experience that delayed her arrival to Emporia, Kansas until just a couple of hours before rider registration closed. She said she was set on travelling to the US again next year to try again.
"I don't know how I feel in general about the American gravel, because I've not done enough of them, but I found, it was quite boring at points because there were stretches of like 20 kilometres in a straight line, with no corners, which is definitely the opposite to the race this weekend," she said with a wry smile.
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