It’s hard to imagine Frodo, Aragorn or Arwen cycling on dusty roads that serve as a cycling ring. Maybe the idea isn’t so crazy… It’s January, when the road cycling year begins and one of the first one-day classics in the UCI category is held halfway between Mordor (Tongariro National Park) and the Rivendell Valley. The Last House”, House of Elrond (Kadok Regional Park).
On Saturday, January 21, 2023, one of the most remarkable and strange tests of the calendar, Gravel and Tar Classic (1.2) In the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the southern North Island of New Zealand. Gravel (or “sterato” in Italian) means “gravel” and tar means “asphalt”. Good mix. The test typically consists of between five and eight sections of dusty gravel roads that make up approximately 40 km of the course’s total 140 km. The trial starts and ends in Ashhurst, on the northern outskirts of Palmerston North.
The trail combines paved sections and unpaved roads Near Pohangina River. It is a rural area in the foothills of the Ruahine Hills (Ruahine Range) and the highlands range from 100 to 300 meters above sea level. For the 2023 edition, the organization is talking about 768 meters of ascent and 799 meters of descent over 136.7 kilometers. This year there will be six “gravel” or unpaved sections: kilometer 25 (4.9 km of roads), kilometer 54 (5 km), kilometer 83 (4.9 km), kilometer 92 (9.3 km), kilometer 108 (8.3 km) and kilometer 128. (1.3 km). So, 33.7 kilometers “Sterato”, 8.4 kilometers from the end of the last stretch. The final two kilometers are downhill to the finish line on Wyndham Street.
“Gravel and Tar Classic” Started in 2016 As a national amateur event, it maintained a role in 2017. Since 2018, it has been recognized as a UCI 1.2 category event. This year the winner is awarded 40 UCI points. In 2022 it could not be denied due to health measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the seventh edition of the “Gravel and Tar Classic” will take place in 2023.
Many of the participants in the Gravel and Tar Classic 2023 Local teams A few days ago he ran a 2.2 stage lap of the New Zealand Cycle Classic. Further south on the island, around Masterton and Wellington. In general, “Kiwi cyclists” (Logan Griffin, 2016; Luke Matvey, 2019; Hayden McCormick, 2020; Aaron Gade, 2021) and some of their Australian neighbors (Robert Stannard, 2017; Ethan Berends, 2018) battle for victory. No one could repeat the feat on the podium (Luke Madgwe, 2nd in 2020 and 2021; Alex West, 2nd in 2016 and 2017; Ryan Christensen, 2nd in 2019 and 3rd in 2021; Hayden McCormick, 2033). For organizational reasons the number of participants was not very high and never reached a hundred in any edition. 60 people will leave Ashhurst in 2023.
How hard is the Gravel and Tar Classic? We can assume that less than 50% of the participants (18 out of 46 in 2021; 23 out of 60 in 2020; 24 out of 65 in 2019; 26 out of 52) of the participants will often be the number of cyclists who make it through without going overboard. 2018).
In 2023, Bolton Equities Black Spoke is the favorite team, racing for the first time this season as a proteam, the second category within the peloton, is a milestone for cycling in the country. They can play multiple cards with Luke Matvey (winner in 2019), James Fuchs (national and continental champion in his first G&T) or Josh Burnett (2nd in NZ Cycle Classic 2022, 12th in G&T 2021). Who can stand against Black Spock? It is difficult to predict. MitoQ NZ Cycling Program (Ben Oliver, 4th at NZ Cycle Classic 2022 and two top 10s in G&T), one of the continental UCIs like Australian CCACHE x Par Küp (Matthew Rhys, top 10s at various levels a few days ago). ) or, to a lesser extent, the modest German team Stork-Metropole Cycling (old team, average age over 30 years). Of the local amateurs who might surprise, I’d highlight the Couplands Booths Group team (Glenn Haden and Ari Scott have already had top 10 finishes in the G&T and have seen quite a bit in the NZ Cycle Classic).
The test runs from 10:00 to 14:00 local time (GMT+13) and therefore ends at dawn European time. As for the weather, some rain (2 L/m2) and a westerly wind speed of 40 kilometers per hour is expected this Saturday. It was not televised liveBut every year newspapers can be read and pictures and some videos are shown in New Zealand media.
The usual thing is that “G&T” runs as a team and the best cyclists lean on their mates for as many kilometers as possible. It is a selection race and the pace set will leave the “victims”. The “gravel” sections are traversed at full speed without lifting your donkey from the saddle. Usually, the attacks are several kilometers from the finish line and the last three unpaved sections are important. If a small group gathers after the last part of these sections, it is normal that there are not many more places and the final downhill terrain favors a small sprint where each will pull the forces they have left.
that is truth A small experiment, with modest participation, but the gravel and tar classic route has everything it needs to stand out on an international calendar that increasingly appreciates the contribution of unpaved sections. A competition like this can be organized by prestige or the main European “Goblet Classic” or “Stone Classic” (Paris-Roubaix, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Omloop Het Newsblad, E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen or Guernsey-Brussels-Guernsey).
However, in recent years we have seen some races that have caught the attention of fans with tracks that include tough, spectacular and unpaved areas such as New Zealand gravel and tar. We are thinking about coming to Piazza del Campo Straight Bianche (Tuscany, Italy, since 2007), in the beautiful pig from “Hell of the West”. Dro Saco Leon (Finister, Brittany, since 1984), in “Berg” or English walls Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic (East Midlands, since 2005) or, near the Úbeda mountains, in recent olive groves. Classic John Inner Paradise (From 2022 onwards). Even the Paris-Tours, which are over a hundred years old (since 1896!), have been transformed again in 2018, including routes between vineyards. We don’t know if cycling is a step forward or a return to the origins of the cycling epic of the last decades of the 19th and first decades of the 20th century. . That is, although “gravel” is a (re)invention promoted very recently from America, the first UCI World Championship cyclists of “gravel” held in Veneto in October 2022 already showed us. Carretera and its sponsors are keen to tap into this latest emerging market of dusty and/or cobbled roads. We cycle for a whileAt least “sterato”
By: AM via (Victor Frankenertz: @cyclinggeo)
Image source: Facebook Gravel and Tar NZ
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