Brits abroad: The Gravel Worlds takeover

This year's race saw an amazing 271 Brits head to Belgium; Adam Becket caught up with a few

- Adam Becket

Belgium, to my knowledge, has never been directly invaded by Britain.

That is, until last weekend, when 271 British riders made it across the Channel to take part in the third Gravel World Championships in Leuven. Incredibly, out of a total field of 2,613, more than a 10th of the competitors were from England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Unlike other elite Worlds races, the gravel event has a mass-participation element. While Mathieu van der Poel and Marianne Vos were triumphing in the elite races, further back, qualified riders were flying the flag for GB.

One of these was Charlie Riccard, who qualified for the Worlds by finishing in the top 25% of his age category – 19-34 – at the Graean Cymru race in Wales last month.

“It’s a bit weird, being surrounded by people in all their different countries’ jerseys,” he told Cycling Weekly on Monday. “I’m used to someone just being in another Rapha jersey, but this was cool.