Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease A Bike) claimed the UCI Gravel World Championships back in October, but she hasn't yet taken her rainbow stripes for a spin.
The multi-discipline star, who has won world titles in road, cyclocross, gravel and track, will make her debut in the gravel world champion's jersey at 3RIDES Aachen at the end of this month.
Vos, who beat road world champion Lotte Kopecky to the top spot in a two-up sprint in Leuven, is set to line up at the May 31 Gravel World Series event in Germany, to taking on a field that includes several key competitors from across disciplines.
"We have always had strong elite starter fields, especially in the gravel area. This has continued this year," said Björn Müller, CEO of 3RIDES Aachen, pointing out in a media conference put out on the race's Instagram story that this was particularly the case in the women's field.
"We are happy to welcome the previous winner, Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek), and on the German side, we have another WorldTour professional rider, Romy Kasper (Human Powered Health), who was fifth last year at the Gravel World Championships in Leuven.
"We are particularly proud to have the current world champion in gravel, Marianne Vos," said Müller, adding that it was expected to be her only appearance at a UCI Gravel World Series race this season.
In October, Vos claimed her 14th world title across disciplines on a course that resembled a one-day Belgian Classic, and continued a trend of WorldTour riders claiming the gravel rainbow stripes, which means they are rarely seen in competition.
The victory concluded her 2024 season, at least until she made a late-year return to cyclocross before having to cut that season short when an injury prevented her from racing the World Championships in the muddy discipline.
It was then onto the road in March at Trofeo Alfredo Binda with her most recent outing being the Vuelta Femenina earlier this month, where she swept up two stage wins, two runner-up spots and the points jersey.
It's a string of form that is bound to make her a formidable rival as she heads back to the gravel, even with a solid field lined up against her that not only includes the 2021 cyclocross world champion and defending champion Brand but also 2023 winner Tessa Neefjes (Liv Racing), who just claimed victory at The Gralloch.
The men's field includes Sebastian Breuer, who came second at The Traka Adventure earlier this month, along with Jonas Koch (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and former professional road cyclist Jan Bakelants.
The 122km race, which is set to run on the same day as Unbound Gravel in the United States, will play out on a 61km loop featuring 65% gravel and 790m of elevation gain on each circuit.
