'I didn't feel like quitting' - Wout van Aert battles back to eighth in unlucky Gravel World Championships

After being more than 10 minutes and 100 places down midway through the race, it was a slightly surprising sight to see Wout van Aert (Belgium) rolling into the finish of the UCI Gravel World Championships in eighth place.

The race was won by Matej Mohorič (Slovenia), with Van Aert not able to compete despite his status as pre-race favourite.

The Jumbo-Visma rider had reportedly crashed in the first 70km of racing, and then a subsequent puncture and mechanical issue. He also faced a significant hold up for assistance on the tight roads of Veneto.

“I crashed, had a puncture and had a mechanical problem with my saddle,” Van Aert explained after the race. “The crash and the puncture were my fault for being careless, so I couldn’t get back to the front of the race.

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“When I had a puncture I couldn't get my tire repaired quickly. Something was broken in the valve and I lost a lot of time because of that. From there I was well down.”

At one checkpoint, he was 10 minutes adrift of the leaders, crossing the timing point in 105th place.

However, despite looking completely out of contention, the Belgian didn’t just sit up, instead pushing hard through the remainder of the race to slowly pick off nearly 100 of his competitors, including names who had been in the main chasing group behind Mohorič and the leaders.

“I knew I could never get to the front again, but I didn't feel like quitting either. I just rode at my own pace and rode from group to group. I think I will still finish in the top ten

In the end, Van Aert finished eighth, 8:24 down on the winner but only a minute and a half down on the main chasers, and ahead of riders who had been in the second group into the latter stages of the race.

Owing to his mixture of cyclo-cross and road abilities, Van Aert had been one of the big pre-race favourites for the World Championships race in Veneto, and his early misfortune was a blow to his ambitions, particularly in the discipline where you need things to go right.

“It is a race where everything has to go well in terms of material and that was not the case today,” he conceded

However, the Belgian expressed his desire to return to the discipline, and he has a particularly exciting opportunity in 2024, with the World Championships being held in his home nation.

“It was still a great experience. This is certainly a good experience, I would certainly like to participate again. I really enjoyed it and I think it is something that really suits me,” he said.

“Next year with the World Cup in Belgium it will be really special.”

Despite Van Aert’s bad luck, it was not a disastrous day for Belgium, who finished on the podium with Florian Vermeersch. The 24-year-old Paris-Roubaix runner-up was at the front of the race almost all day, only dropped by Mohorič in the final 20km, and riding on strongly to limit his losses.

“Florian's second place is really nice,” Van Aert said of his teammate. “Mohorič is of course a real Classics specialist and so it’s a great result for Florian.”