As it happened: Lone survivor of early break wins elite men’s race at UCI Gravel World Championships

Good morning and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the men's race at the UCI Gravel World Championships 2025!

The World Champs already kicked off yesterday with the women's race. You can catch up here.

UCI Gravel World Championships: Lorena Wiebes claims elite women's world title with sprint victory for dominant Dutch team

The women's race wasn't without its drama, of course. Will we see more of that today?

Shirin van Anrooij feels 'my chance at the world title was taken away' as another Dutch rider helped close her solo lead at Gravel World Championships

The men's race starts in Beek in just under 45 minutes.

Lots of big names will be on the start line this morning, including some WorldTour stars, but the startlist is also missing some key figures in gravel, like Keegan Swenson and Lachlan Morton.

Our colleague Jackie Tyson is on the ground in the Netherlands and has been talking to European riders about the absence of certain stars.

'To race the highest level of the year, they should come here' – Dutch rider Jasper Ockeloen disappointed by absence of top US racers at UCI Gravel World Championships

Here are the details of the course the riders will be taking on today.

UCI Gravel World Championships 2025 route includes pass of Wijnandsrade Castle, Bronsdalweg climb and finish on gravel path

Tom Pidcock is perhaps the biggest name competing today. In theory he has everything it takes to excel here, but is coming into these championships with little experience of riding gravel races.

Tom Pidcock starting Gravel World Championships without seeing course and only riding new Pinarello bike 'a little bit'

Here's the bike Pidcock will be riding today - one he's only used a few times.

The race is set to get underway in just five minutes.

And they're off!

OFFICIAL START

Here was Mads Würtz Schmidt before the start, one of the gravel specialists hoping to be in the mix today.

Pidcock might be the headline name starting today, but he’s also coming into this race as a novice of the format - as he admitted before the start.

The skies are blue and the temperature pleasant in Limburg today.

Here was Laurens Sweeck, a gravel specialist riding for Belgium, at the start today.

One of the most anticipated names today, Tim Melier, has pulled out of the race before it began. But the Belgian line-up is still stacked with talent, with the likes of Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch and Gianni Vermeersch all riding.

A first glimpse of the riders out on the course today.

The Belgians are utilising their strength in numbers and riding at the front of the race.

The startlist today is notable for a number of retired veterans of road cycling - including Greg van Avermaet, one of the top classics specialists of the 2010s, who has been on the gravel scene these past two years.

As well as Belgium, Germany are also getting involved, with Roger Kluge riding at the front. They have Nils Politt in their roster today.

Here is Politt, pulling at the front of the peloton.

The peloton is still together, and the favourites up towards the front.

The punchy course is claiming its victims, with the peloton reduced to about 100 riders already, with 150km still to ride.

150KM TO GO

The Belgian contingent towards the front, with Tim Wellens among them.

One of the riders dropped from the peloton is Romain Bardet. Despite impressing on the gravel circuit since his retirement from the road earlier this year, including a few wins, the Frenchman won’t be competing for a high finish at his Worlds debut.

A group of three has managed to slip clear of the peloton - Quinten Hermans, Connor Swift and Pepijn Reinderink.

Here’s an idea of the kind of road surfaces the riders are tackling on the course.

The trio has been caught and the peloton is together again.

Hermans, Swift and Reinderink, before they were brought back.

The peloton has been significantly reduced, down to about 60 riders. The course is taking its toll.

Another group of three has formed off the front of the race, this time consisting of Florian Vermeersch, Floris Van Tricht and Frits Biesterbos.

Nils Politt is also out of the peloton and in pursuit of the leading trio.

The leading trio are about 10 seconds ahead of Politt, and 40 seconds ahead of the peloton.

Politt has managed to join Vermeersch, Van Tricht and Biesterbos, and they have a 40 second lead over the peloton.

Meanwhile Rick Ottema of the Netherlands is trying to bridge up to the four leaders, but still has over 20 seconds to make up.

A throwback to the past - Greg Van Avermaet riding in the peloton.

Politt and Biesterbos have attacked the two Belgians and managed to go clear.

Vermeersch is with them, but Van Tricht has been distanced.

The four leaders at the front, before Van Tricht was dropped.

The three leaders are in a strong position, their advantage over the peloton having grown to almost a minute and a half.

It seems Floris Van Tricht wasn’t dropped after all - here he is with the other three leaders in the front group.

The quartet's lead continues to grow, now up to 1:50.

100KM TO GO

Fabio Christen and Magnus Bak Klaris have jumped out of the peloton and have set off in pursuit of the leaders

Bak Klaris and Christen are making some inroads, but still have over a minute to make up to make it to the leaders. Meanwhile the pace is up in the peloton, which is still less than 20 seconds behind the chasing duo.

The attritional nature of this route continues to take its toll. The peloton is down to about 50 riders.

The Belgian duo of Gianni Vermeersch and Quinten Hermans have attacked from the peloton, and joined the two chasers, Magnus Bak Klaris and Fabio Christen.

The four leaders are 50 seconds ahead of the chasers, and 1:20 ahead of the peloton.

80KM TO GO

A couple more riders have joined the chase group, which is only a handful of seconds ahead of the peloton.

There are only about 25 riders left in the peloton, which is being strung out as Mohoric ups the pace.

Mohoric's work has brought the chasers back.

Tim Wellens has accelerated at the front of the peloton

Wellens work has caused more damage, and the peloton is down to about 20 riders.

Pidcock and Mohoric are still righ up towards the front.

The race is very much on. Multiple attacks are being made out of the peloton.

Christen and Hermans have managed to go clear.

The peloton is swelling again, as riders who were dropped return to it.

The front group's lead is down to 43 seconds.

70KM TO GO

The four riders at the front.

Christen and Hermans have been caught.

Politt is struggling to hold the wheel on a steep section, and has been dropped by the other three.

Politt's dropped, and lost more ground when needing to briefly stop to sort a gearing issue.

Mohoric accelerates and takes Félix Stehli with him.

The peloton behind Mohoric and Félix Stehli is down to about 15 riders.

Mohoric and Félix Stehli have bridged up to Politt.

Mohorič is really pressing on, nearly overshooting a corner as he tries to bridge this group up to the leaders.

Magnus Bak Klaris and Rick Ottema have formed a third group on the road.

Here was the scene at the finish line earlier today.

There are still only about 15 riders in the peloton, about half of whom are Belgian.

Pidcock's attacked out the peloton.

Hermans is quick to respons to Pidcock and has grabbed onto his wheel.

The four leaders still have 30 seconds on the Mohorič chasing trio. The Bak Klaris / Ottema duo are a further 15 seconds adrift, and the peloton another 15 seconds behind them.

60KM TO GO

Pidcock and Hermans have been joined by Aerts, Wellens and Gianni Vermeersch - that's four Belgians against one Brit.

Make that five Belgians - Wout Alleman has joined them too.

Politt has been dropped again, this time from Mohorič and Stehli.

The Pidcock / Belgian group has caught Ottema and Bak Klaris.

Pidcock again tries to go clear, but is being watched like a hawk by the Belgians.

Despite all the action taking pace behind them, the leading quartet are holding strong. They still maintain a lead of 35 seconds on the chasing duo, and 1:10 on the Pidcock/Wellens group.

50KM TO GO

Hermans has attacked out of the Pidcock group.

Behind, a small group has just bridged up to the Pidcock group. It might be a stretch to call it the 'peloton', but it's still quite big, with about 15 riders in it.

The three riders out fron, who still lead by 35 seconds.

Hermans has managed to build a lead over the group, and is clear by just over 20 seconds.

There’s no organisation in the chasing ‘peloton,’ the Belgians happy to sit back with so many men up the road.

Wellens and Ottema have made it up to Hermans. Behind, the group is in bits, having been broken up into small groups.

Van Tricht has been dropped on the uphill - that leaves just Vermeersch and Biesterbos at the front.

Biesterbos and Vermeersch still have a lead of 40 seconds on Mohorič and Stehli, who, for all their efforts, can't seem to make any inroads.

40KM TO GO

Florian Vermeersch made a name for himself four years ago when he got into an early break to finish second at Paris–Roubaix. Is he poised to do something similar today - and perhaps go one better?

Mohorič and Stehli have caught Van Tricht.

Pidcock hasn't given up, and has managed to attack out of the group, bringing Timo Kielich with him.

Kielich isn't taking any turns for Pidcock, and behind them is the ominous sight of three Belgian chasing them. Pidcock is being marked out of this race.

The two remaining riders at the front.

Success for Pidcock - he's bridged up to Wellens, Hermans and Ottema, albeit with Kielich on his wheel still.

This feels like an important moment in the race - will the Belgians work with Pidcock and therefore potentially bring themselves into contention for the win, or will the presence of Vermeersch at the front mean they won’t collaborate?

For now, the advantage remains firmly in Vermeersch and Biesterbos. They've increased their lead on the first chase group to 50 seconds, and 1:50 to the Pidcock group.

30KM TO GO

The Belgians do look like they're working with Pidcock, but the gap of 1:50 is going to be very hard to bridge.

Vermeersch and Biesterbos have grown their lead to over a minute. Surely this is their race to lose.

Hermans has been dropped, seemingly with a mechanical.

Van Tricht has crashed, going round a technical corner - he's back up, but faces a challenge to rejoin Mohorič and Stehli.

The leaders are maintaining their advantage, which remains 1 minute over the two chasers, and 1:50 over the Pidcock group.

20KM TO GO

Pidcock attacks on an uphill section, and has succeeded in dropping everyone - apart from Wellens, who remains glued to his wheel.

Florian Vermeersch makes his big move on an uphill gravel section - and has gone clear!

VERMEERSCH ATTACKS

Vermeersch has over five seconds aleady, and 19km left to ride to the finish.

Behind Mohorič briefly looked as though he was about to drop Stehli, but the Swiss rider just about managed to hang on.

This isn’t over yet! Biesterbos can still see Vermeersch up the road and is only a few seconds behind.

This is agonising for Biesterbos. He can see Vermeersch just ahead of him, but can't quite close the gap.

The gap is only about 4 or 5 seconds.

The two are climbing the Bronsdalweg climb. This could be a pivotal moment in the race - Biesterbos will surely feel he needs to close that gap on it.

They've reached the top, and though Biesterbos hasn't closed the gap, he's still in contention, remaining about five seconds behind.

Meanwhile Mohorič has dropped Stehli on the same climb. That could seal the Slovenian the bronze medal.

The pendulum is swinging towards Vermeersch. His lead has grown to about ten seconds.

13 seconds now for Vermeersch. This is slipping away for Biesterbos.

Still the lead grows, now up to 18 seconds.

And now it's 20 seconds. Mohorič is 1:25 back in third, while the other chasers are a long way back.

10KM TO GO

Vermeersch is flying away from Biesterbos. He’s 30 seconds ahead now.

Biesterbos's silver medal should at least be safe. He's over a minute ahead of Mohorič.

Victory will taste especially sweet for Vermeersch considering that he has finished runner-up in both the previous two editions.

Given their strength in numbers, and the choice of their riders not to commit to a chase, it was pretty essential for Belgium that Vermeersch did succeed in defeating Biesterbos.

Biesterbos is losing any more time, but neither is he gaining any. With 5km to go he's 33 seconds behind Vermeersch.

5KM TO GO

Here's Vermeersch leading the race.

Just 3km left to ride for Vermeersch to the finish.

40 seconds for Vermeersch with 1.5km left to ride. He isn't affording himself a celebration just yet, however.

Now he starts to celebrate! He blows a kiss to the camera of the TV moto riding alongside him.

Vermeersch crosses the line to be crowned world champion!

FLORIAN VERMEERSCH IS WORLD CHAMPION

Here comes Frits Biesterbos. He looks delighted with his silver medal, geeing up the crowd as he rides the finishing straight.

And now Matej Mohorič crosses the line to seal the final place on the podium.

There's a sprint for fourth-place contested by a small group that came together. Van Tricht wins it, ahead of Stehli and Pidcock.

Vermeersch at the finish:

"It's unbelievable. I don't realise fully yet. It's incredible. It's not only this race. It's the end of a long comeback, I would say. To win again after two difficult years is really amazing. To end the season like this, I have no words really."

The top ten in full:

1 Florian Vermeersch

2 Frits Biesterbos

3 Matej Mohorič

4 Floris Van Tricht

5 Félix Stehli

6 Tom Pidcock

7 Tim Wellens

8 Rick Ottema

9 Timo Kielich

10 Magnus Bak Klaris

That was a terrific result for Frits Biesterbos, a breakthrough ride in front of his home fans. He was crowned national Dutch champion on the gravel last month, but silver medal here is the biggest moment in his career, and marks him out as a serious talent.

He might not have managed to repeat his victory from two years ago, but bronze medal for Matej Mohorič is a welcome success at the end of what has been a difficult season.

Tom Pidcock was never quite in contention for the win, and struggled against the might of the Belgian team. Still, 6th place isn’t bad for a first ever gravel race.

Thanks for joining us today, for what was a very entertaining fourth edition of the Gravel Worlds Championships.

This was a gruelling, attritional affair, and one in which the gravel specialists who aren’t such household names in the World Tour shone - but were still outdone by one of them in Florian Vermeersch.