{"id":198081,"date":"2025-10-13T23:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/198081\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T23:00:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:00:13","slug":"2025-uci-gravel-world-championships-tech-gallery-an-unreleased-merida-vos-mullet-setup-pidcocks-pinarello-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/198081\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 UCI Gravel World Championships tech gallery: an unreleased Merida, Vos’ mullet setup, Pidcock’s Pinarello and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Belgium and the Netherlands dominated the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships at the weekend, as both races played out in attritional fashion.<\/p>\n

Florian Vermeersch (BEL) took a solo victory in the elite men\u2019s field, while Lorena Wiebes (NED) outsprinted teammate Marianne Vos for the win in the elite women\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

But what about the bikes? As usual with UCI-sanctioned gravel events, we saw the pre-race flurry of opinions saying the course wasn\u2019t long or technical enough for it to class as a real gravel race.<\/p>\n

Yet, while we certainly didn\u2019t see the kind of whacky aero-drop-bar-mountain-bike setups we\u2019ve witnessed at US events such as the Leadville 100<\/a>, practically everyone rode a ‘proper’ gravel bike<\/a> with chunky tyres.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, let\u2019s take a look at some of the setups the big-name riders used for the Limburg parcours.<\/p>\n

Florian Vermeersch’s Colnago G4-X
\n\"FlorianFlorian Vermeersch’s Colnago G4-X is a pure racer. Dan Hutchinson \/ Colnago<\/p>\n

After finishing second at the two previous editions of the UCI Gravel World Championships, Belgium\u2019s Florain Vermeersch showed persistence pays off, with a classy solo win from an early breakaway aboard Colnago\u2019s G4-X gravel bike<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The G4-X is the Italian brand\u2019s gravel race bike, with an aggressive geometry and aero features borrowed from its V4Rs<\/a> and V5Rs<\/a> all-rounder road bikes.<\/p>\n

It features clearance for tyres up to 45mm wide on 700c wheels, although Colnago says Vermeersch opted for slightly skinnier 40mm tyres.<\/p>\n

With dry conditions on the day, Vermeersch also plumped for Continental\u2019s Terra Speed TR tyres<\/a> \u2013 a thin, lightly treaded gravel tyre, which would have helped him keep speed high on the roads littered in between the gravel secteurs.<\/p>\n

\"FlorianThird time’s a charm for Vermeersch. Dan Hutchinson \/ Colnago<\/p>\n

These were paired with a set of ENVE SES 4.5 wheels<\/a> \u2013 the older, slightly wider wheelset with hookless rims<\/a>, rather than the newer, narrower SES 4.5 Pro wheels<\/a> Tadej Poga\u010dar has been using on the road this season.<\/p>\n

Up front, rather than running a fully integrated cockpit, Vermeersch opted for a two-piece setup with ENVE\u2019s Aero In-Route flared handlebar, in a 37\/42cm width, and a lengthy 135mm stem.<\/p>\n

As with Mathieu van der Poel at last year\u2019s edition<\/a>, Vermeersch opted for a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset<\/a> with road-specific gearing \u2013 54\/40t chairings and an 11-34t cassette.<\/p>\n

Vermeersch\u2019s bike was finished off with a Fizik Argo Adaptive 3D-printed saddle<\/a> and a set of Shimano Dura-Ace SPD-SL road pedals.<\/p>\n

Matej Mohori\u010d\u2019s prototype Merida gravel race bike
\n\"MatejFormer gravel world champion, Matej Mohori\u010d debuted an unreleased Merida gravel bike at the weekend. Merida<\/p>\n

Also on the podium in the elite men\u2019s race was Slovenia\u2019s Matej Mohori\u010d \u2013 who rode an unreleased Merida gravel bike to third place.<\/p>\n

Details on the new bike are limited, but Merida has confirmed it\u2019s a \u201cnew race gravel and multi-surface model\u201d that\u2019s \u201cset to be launched in early November\u201d.<\/p>\n

Based on the photos we have, it looks like a souped-up version of the Taiwanese brand\u2019s Scultura road bike<\/a>, with a mix of lightweight, truncated aerofoil tube shapes and a rear end optimised for compliance.<\/p>\n

Given this, we suspect it\u2019s designed to slot into Merida\u2019s range as a \u2018gravel race\u2019 bike, complementing the Silex<\/a>, which is more MTB-inspired in its geometry (and was ridden to victory at the UCI Gravel World Championships by Mohori\u010d in 2023).<\/p>\n

\"MatejThere doesn’t look to be much room around Mohori\u010d’s front tyre. Merida<\/p>\n

Like Vermeersch, Mohori\u010d opted for a Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 road bike groupset, and what look like fairly narrow (by modern gravel standards) Continental Terra Speed TR tyres on low-profile Vision wheels.<\/p>\n

Despite the relatively narrow tyres, the remaining clearance doesn\u2019t appear enormous \u2013 suggesting this won\u2019t be a gravel bike capable of running cross-country mountain bike tyres.<\/p>\n

On that topic, perhaps unsurprisingly \u2013 given the gravel secteurs consisted mainly of hardpack gravel tracks and off-road trails \u2013 we didn\u2019t see too many riders opting for XC tyres, at least at the front of the pack.<\/p>\n

Mohori\u010d\u2019s prototype gravel bike was finished off with a one-piece integrated cockpit from Vision, with what looked like a long and narrow position, with a few degrees of flare from the hoods to the drops.<\/p>\n

Tom Pidcock\u2019s Pinarello Dogma GR
\n\"BritishFinishing sixth on the day, Britain’s Tom Pidcock opted for relatively narrow tyres on his Pinarello Dogma GR. DIRK WAEM\/BELGA MAG\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Although we saw the Briton aboard his usual Scott Addict RC<\/a> at Il Lombardia on Saturday, he was riding Pinarello\u2019s new Dogma GR<\/a> at the UCI Gravel World Championships the next day.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s unusual to see pro cyclists riding different brands’ bikes during a single season, Pidcock has an arrangement with his Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team that sees him using Scott bikes for road-based racing and Pinarello for all things off-road.<\/p>\n

The Italian brand\u2019s latest gravel race bike was launched only a few months ago and is intended to blend characteristics of the Dogma F<\/a> road bike, the Crossista<\/a> cyclocross bike and the Dogma XC<\/a> mountain bike.<\/p>\n

As an out-and-out race bike, the Dogma GR features aerofoil tubing throughout, an integrated cockpit, and tyre clearance capped at 45mm up front and 42mm at the rear.<\/p>\n

\"PinarelloPinarello had one of Pidcock’s spare Dogma GR gravel bikes for punters to ogle at the race. Pinarello<\/p>\n

If you want to go wider than that, Pinarello says its Grevil F features 50mm of tyre clearance with a 1x drivetrain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In an eye-catching cherry red and gold colour scheme, Pidcock\u2019s bike was decked out with a SRAM Red XPLR AXS groupset and a set of Vision SC 48 i25 wheels.<\/p>\n

Designed for both road and gravel duties, the Vision wheels feature 48mm-deep rims with a 25mm internal width and are claimed to weigh 1,594g per set.<\/p>\n

Pidcock paired these with a set of biscuity brown, Vittoria Terreno Pro T30 tyres<\/a>, which our former colleague, Liam Cahill, confirmed were only 35mm wide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lorena Wiebes\u2019 Specialized S-Works Crux<\/p>\n

With more than 20 riders in orange on the startsheet, the Dutch unsurprisingly dominated\u00a0the elite women\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

In somewhat controversial fashion \u2013 as Yara Kastelijn helped pull back her Dutch teammate Shirin van Anrooij in the final kilometre \u2013 Wiebes soundly beat reigning champion, Marianne Vos, in a reduced bunch sprint.<\/p>\n

\"(L)Wiebes took the win in the elite women’s race aboard Specialized’s S-Works Crux gravel race bike. <\/p>\n

Given the relatively tame parcours, Wiebes could have opted for the slightly more aero-optimised Specialized Roubaix SL8<\/a> \u2013 which features clearance for up to 40mm-wide tyres.<\/p>\n

Instead, though, she went with Specialized\u2019s raciest gravel offering, the S-Works Crux<\/a>, although she did pair the lightweight frameset with Roval\u2019s Rapide integrated cockpit.<\/p>\n

\"DutchWiebes’ bike had a nod to aero up front. POOL ALEX WHITEHEAD\/BELGA MAG\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Per her Team SD Worx-Protime trade team sponsors, Wiebes used a SRAM Red XPLR AXS groupset with a large 1x aero chainring up front.<\/p>\n

The build was completed with a set of Roval Terra CLX II gravel wheels and Specialized\u2019s latest Pathfinder TLR tyres<\/a><\/p>\n

Marianne Vos\u2019 Cerv\u00e9lo Aspero-5
\n\"DutchVos went for an aggressive setup, with an aero frameset and mismatched tyres. DIRK WAEM\/BELGA MAG\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In contrast to Wiebes\u2019 relatively simple setup, Marianne Vos went all-in with a futuristic setup that almost carried her to a second consecutive world title.<\/p>\n

While Wiebes\u2019 Crux features round tubes focused on low weight, Vos\u2019 Cerv\u00e9lo \u00c1spero-5 is more akin to an off-road aero bike<\/a>, with its S5-inspired design.<\/p>\n

Vos pushed things further, too, removing the two-piece cockpit and speccing the same integrated handlebar we saw on Matteo Jorgenson\u2019s Cerv\u00e9lo R5<\/a> at this year\u2019s Tour de France.<\/p>\n

She made a notable tyre choice, too, opting for a grippier Vittoria Terreno T70 up front (in a 45mm width) and a slick, 42mm-wide Corsa Pro Control TLR<\/a> out back for its lower rolling resistance.<\/p>\n

The theory is that this allows for a better balance of off-road grip and rolling resistance, especially on muddy sections of the course.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth noting that the 42mm-wide Corsa Pro Control remains a model exclusive to the Cerv\u00e9lo gravel bike \u2013 with the Italian manufacturers’ catalogue still showing 34c as the largest option elsewhere.<\/p>\n

This is a marked change from Vos\u2019 setup at last year\u2019s UCI Gravel World Championships, where the Dutchwoman used 33mm-wide Dugast cyclocross tyres.<\/p>\n

One bit of tech she did carry forward to this year\u2019s race was the Gravaa KAPS hubs<\/a> in her Reserve wheels.<\/p>\n

These hubs enable the rider to deflate and re-inflate their tyres while riding, using a bar-mounted remote control.<\/p>\n

\"\"A hose connects the hub to the tyre via the tubeless valve, enabling riders to add or remove air at the touch of a button. Liam Cahill \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

In theory, this could offer significant performance gains because the optimal tyre pressure for tarmac sections would be substantially higher than that for the tougher off-road parts of the course.<\/p>\n

As Vos told BikeRadar at last year\u2019s race, though, the rider also needs to remember to use it at the right times \u2013 which isn\u2019t always so easy in the heat of the moment.<\/p>\n

Vos\u2019 build was finished off with SRAM\u2019s Red XPLR AXS groupset, and like Wiebes, she ran a large 1x aero chainring up front.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Belgium and the Netherlands dominated the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships at the weekend, as both races played…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-198081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}