Nicolas Roche said while the UCI Gravel World Championships in Italy on Sunday was a very challenging event, especially since he has not been riding top-tier road races this year, he is very keen to keep going with his fledgling gravel career.
The two-time Grand Tour stage winner, and former Vuelta leader, said he was also pleased to have taken part in the inaugural world title race over gravel and was already looking forward to next year's Worlds. Roche retired from road racing at the end of last season and has since taken to gravel racing.
Having ridden well for a long period in Sunday's 194km world title race - over the white roads in the Veneto region in Italy - Roche flagged a little as the event continued. With the field featuring many top riders from the pro road peloton, their condition saw them rise to the top over five hours of racing.
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Roche was eventually hit by cramps, which cost him dearly, and slipped down the field before eventually finishing 47th, of the 99 finishers. His younger brother Alexis, the only other Irish rider in the event, was 49th. The brothers - both riding Bianchi bikes - finished 19:37 and 20:23 down on new world champion Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium).
In the build-up to the race, Roche was critical of the way road and MTB riders were allowed to use their UCI ranking points to gain a better position on the grid; something he said was not allowed when road riders competed in MTB.
He was fearful the start was so technical that the gridding position would really influence the event. However, the race settled into a road race-like dynamic, with a breakaway going clear and a large bunch chasing; or not chasing, as was the case for long periods.
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While he was not as disadvantaged by the gridding as he feared, Roche said there was still "work to be done next year on how the race can be done, rules, course" and more details.
"But it's important to back the effort of those who are working on creating something," he said, adding for pro rider Filippo Pozzato and his team had organised a great series of races at the Worlds and that he was "already looking forward to next year".
"I struggled with the high speed, clearly lacking race days and power on the flat compared with the world tour powerhouses," Roche said of how his race went.
While he felt he defended his position in the field for a long time, placing 47th was not the result he had hoped for "but when you cramp, well it's game over". He is now back home on Monaco and already readying for his next gravel outing, Belgian Waffle Ride in the US.
On Sunday, Vermeersch and Daniel Oss (Italy) got clear of the main field - which was very large at the time - with about 150km to go. They opened a huge gap and remained clear for the rest of the race; Vermeersch dropping Oss on the final circuit around the finish town Cittadella and winning by 43 seconds from Oss.
Behind the gold and silver medal winners, pre-race favourite Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) distanced the rest of the select group and battled it out for bronze. That fight was won by Van der Poel, who finished 3rd some 1:28 down on the winner.
