Gravel World Championships: What is it? When is it? Mathieu van der Poel set to return after hotel incident

Mathieu van der Poel will return to racing at the inaugural Gravel World Championships this weekend, his first outing since his arrest at the Road World Championships in Australia. The Dutch star spent the early hours in custody before the men’s road race in Wollongong after an altercation with two teenagers, who were knocking on his hotel door as he tried to sleep. Ad Although he was granted conditional bail to compete in the race, he soon abandoned.

He was later fined $1,500AU before being cleared to return to Europe. The 27-year-old will now target his first rainbow jersey outside the cyclo-cross arena. «We are writing a bit of history on Sunday,» Van der Poel, who will be joined by other road stars including Peter Sagan and Greg van Avermaet, said in a press statement.

«For me my very first gravel race in my career. Although it is not completely new. I trained on the gravel bike for the first time today and it feels like something between road racing and cyclo-cross.

The adaptation on the bike wasn't too bad. »It's mainly fun to be there. And if the feeling is okay on Sunday, we will obviously do our best to get the best possible result." Pauline Ferrand Prevot is the star of the women’s field, having won three titles at the recent Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets.

Ferrand Prevot boasts 12 rainbow jerseys across MTB, road and cyclo-cross from a glittering career. ‘I definitely regret it’ – Van der Poel says he ‘should have acted differently’ after arrest How to watch Ganna’s Hour Record attempt on Saturday What are the Gravel World Championships all about? Unofficially, the Gravel World Championships have happened annually in Nebraska for over a decade, but it will now be an official UCI event. And as