Vaughan goes chasing rainbows on a budget

National champ Jacob Vaughan on his DIY gravel Worlds experience

- James Shrubsall

Booking your own Airbnb, mixing your bottles the night before the race for your partner to hand out at the feed zones, and borrowing a skinsuit from World Tour pro-Fred Wright - no, it's not the Wobbly Wheelers Road Race, it's the inaugural Championships, Poel and Peter Sagan lining up and a bona-fide rainbow jersey for the winner.

But with limited British Cycling support, for new British gravel national champion Jacob Vaughan, competing in the event UCI World Gravel with Mathieu van der– held last Sunday in Italy’s Veneto region – was a belt and braces affair fraught with logistical complexities.

“It was just an incredible experience,” said the former national road champion, who has been riding for Saint Piran this season. “To do an elite World Champs with the calibre of rider that was there...”

Star-studded field

Those riders included road stars such as the aforementioned MVDP, Greg Van Avermaet, Zdenek Stybar and Magnus Cort Nielsen. Van der Poel, who lined up as favourite, took bronze at the finish in Citadella after the 190km race, behind Belgian compatriot (and MVDP’s Alpecin-Fenix trade team-mate) Gianni Vermeesch, and Daniel Oss in second.