For some riders–notably Shirin van Anrooij–and cycling fans, the gravel worlds left a bitter aftertaste on Saturday.

To onlookers there was veritable confusion and outrage followed an unusual sight: a Dutch rider, Yara Kastelijn, closing down her fellow Dutchwoman Shirin van Anrooij with 1 km to go.

In UCI Women Gravel worlds final we got Yara Kastelijn (NED) closing on Shirin van Anrooij (NED) so that Lorena Wiebes (NED) can win the sprint vs Vos (NED)

What the hellpic.twitter.com/Tg0ZHu7ndR

— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) October 11, 2025

The move effectively sabotaged her compatriot’s shot at the rainbow jersey. Instead, Lorena Wiebes flew past, with Marianne Vos in tow. Wiebes took the sprint, and Anrooij not only lost the rainbow jersey, but a shot at the medals.

Trade teams over national teams?

The incident sparked calls to replace national jerseys with trade-team kits at future editions, but the UCI is not ready to change course.

“I understand why people are upset. This wasn’t good for cycling,” analyst Marijn de Vries said to Sporza. Kastelijn, heavily criticized, later apologized. The confusion stems from gravel’s unique qualification system. Riders secure their own entry via UCI qualifiers or wildcards, such as Tom Pidcock’s, rather than being selected by national federations.

Dutch rider who chased down own teammate at gravel worlds now says she regrets it

Dutch national coach Laurens ten Dam weighed in on his role in it all–if there even was one.

“I organize recon rides and encourage them to race hard at the gravel worlds ,” he said. “But I can’t impose tactics. With almost 30 Dutch women in the elite field, I only told them not to block each other—and that a Dutch rider had to win.”

Dutch dominance

The women’s race ultimately became an all-orange affair, with seven of the top ten wearing Dutch colours, yet loyalty lay with trade teams.

Ten Dam has since floated limiting entries to ten riders per nation.  This allows proper team selection and strategy. But UCI performance director Peter Van den Abeele downplayed the crisis. “These are growing pains,” he told Sporza. “World championships are for countries, not teams. It’s up to national coaches to set strategy. Italy did it.”

For now, gravel’s open-entry ethos stays intact. “The beauty of this world championship is mass participation,” Van den Abeele insisted. (Although there was a time when trade teams briefly raced the team time trial worlds.) “We’ll discuss improvements.  But we’re keeping that spirit.”

After the race, Kastelijn said “I absolutely did not want to ride Shirin into losing,” she said. “So, I just wanted to get the maximum out of my own race.”

(Except by chasing her down, she definitely contributed to her losing.) She said she was confused by Ten Dam’s words before the race. “Ou national coach, had emphasized beforehand that the gravel worlds are not raced with the same mentality as a road European championship. Maybe I interpreted that a bit too literally,” she said.

Devon Clarke was the top Canadian in the event. The 2025 national champion took an impressive 23rd amid many WorldTour and ProTeam riders.