With all the drama and dust kicked up by the Dutch national team at the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships a week ago, it was easy to miss a significant finish by US rider Heidi Franz with 13th overall. She was only one of two riders in the top 15 who were not part of WorldTour or women's ProTeams.
The 30-year-old was the best in a 12-rider group who had chased a dozen others, including nine representing the orange-clad Netherlands squad, four of those Dutch riders in the top five in Maastricht, led by Lorena Wiebes, earning the world title for gravel.
For Franz, it was not just important to represent Team USA well, but to showcase her talents as she faced a rougher road ahead in the off-season to continue earning a living as a professional athlete, on the search for a sixth team in five years, as she didn't have a good feeling about Cynisca Cycling continuing next year.
"I was pretty thrilled with how the day went. These types of courses actually suit me pretty well on paper - punchy, a positioning battle - just the technical nature of the speed and the cornering and being focused and just locked in for four hours," Franz told Cyclingnews after a day of reflection about her third trip to UCI Gravel Worlds.
"Saturday was finally a reflection of what I've known I've had that in me for a long time. This is what I know I'm capable of, you know?
"Going into the race, I did kind of feel like I was pretty forgotten as a rider, as an American rider that is based in Europe and has been fighting like hell to stay relevant and stay in the sport.
"A few days before, I was like, man, no one really knows or cares that I'm here. And I I really want to put myself out there and make sure that people know I'm here. And I'm just really, really relieved and happy that I had the ride that I did, being only one of four people in front of me that was not wearing an orange jersey."
This is her ninth year as a professional cyclist, having success as an all-rounder on hilly terrain but spreading her time across six different teams. After four years at Rally Cycling, she had a tumultuous trio of seasons, 2022-2024, as three of her four teams folded.
She landed as a co-leader for Cynisca Cycling this year, but just three months after signing the three-year-old Continental programme announced it had started crowdfunding. She predicted it was the end of another team and the start of another job search.
"Having gone through a number of different journeys to a team collapsing, which can be so different, I was like, 'I don't have a good feeling about this'," Franz admitted.
Five days after Franz completed her season at UCI Gravel Worlds, management for Cynisca Cycling announced that the team would not continue for 2026, and "take a strategic hiatus" for next year as they seek to relaunch as a ProTeam.
Franz rode this season as a co-leader for Cynisca Cycling alongside sprint veteran Alexis Magner, who has signed with EF Education-Oatly for next year.
"I've got one lead that is just taking more time than expected," Franz said.
Franz had top 10s this year on gravel at Santa Vall and Gravel Weekend in Latvia, as well as going 13th at Sea Otter Europe Girona in late September. In 2023, she had her first victory on gravel in the UCI Gravel World Series Spanish round at Hutchison Ranxo, qualifying for Worlds.
Over her career, she's won the GC at Redlands Bicycle Classic, two GC podiums at Joe Martin Stage Race, as well as top 10s at Ceratizit Festival Elsy Jacobs and Tour de Gatineau. And she's represented the US at three Road Worlds.
"My favourite competition is the road for sure, and I think that's why I continue to just kind of fight to press on with that. For me, what I love about racing is the chess game aspect of it, and having to be smart and anticipate what's going to happen next, and doing that with a team.
"A lot of people will say [UCI Gravel Worlds] was just a road race. But I think, yes, it's a little different to being a World Championship event when people are racing for their nations. In theory, that was a bit confusing for a few people in the women's race. I just really enjoy more of a tactical race, and one that requires more thinking, and not necessarily just full wattage bombs.
"Being smart and knowing how to use your energy wisely, I really enjoy that type of racing. I'll find that more on the road than in gravel, but that's for fun. Definitely picking up the gravel bike, it's just that it's fun. I just like getting off into the dirt."
Franz now moves on to use her talents with being smart to land a contract with a new team, and continue racing on the road and on gravel.
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