When top UK gravel rider Jenson Young heads to the UCI Gravel World Championships in Limburg, the Netherlands next week, he won’t exactly be riding for fun – but after a recent run of superb results, the pressure will be decidedly off.
He has knocked it out of the park this season, achieving all his goals – including the UK’s most epic cyclo-cross race, the 3 Peaks Cyclo-Cross, where he saw off none other than Lachlan Morton on the way to victory.
For his part, Lachlan Morton said on social media that the event was “pure chaos and love and I’ll be back every year I can”.
(Image credit: Future/Andy Jones)
It was another fine result for Young, who was also victorious in the recent Welsh UCI gravel event Graen Cymru, as well as winning the recent British Gravel Championship time trial at Dalby Forest and coming fourth in the elite men’s mass-start event.
His win in the 3 Peaks event was far from the serendipitous by-product of some good form though. He trained hard – and specifically – for it.
He prepared, he says, “specifically what I didn’t do last year that I struggle on, like fast walking up steps with the bike. I spent a lot of time in the hills with a weight vest.
“I think overall, it just made my fatigue resistance and strength on the bike, especially after a number of hours, a lot better,” he added. “So it’s definitely benefited me. It’s just a lot of sacrifices you’ve got to make to be able to do all that.”
The events he has already done well in this year gave him the confidence that he could take a result at the 3 Peaks, says Young, and he will now hope to ride that wave at Limburg this Sunday (October 12).
“I’m just gonna go out and enjoy it and get stuck in,” he said. “My form recently has been pretty good, so hopefully I’ll feel as good as I’ve done the past few weeks. I’ll just go and enjoy it and like, whatever happens happens, and no pressure if I don’t get a result.
With his gravel season finished, he will return to his first love – cyclo-cross – to keep him sharp over the winter, including National Trophy and British Championship events, before heading back into the gravel fray in March.
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