How Van Aert's Marly Grav win shone a light on gravel's biggest broadcast challenge yet

Wout van Aert's surprise appearance at the Marly Grav in Valkenburg was an unexpected windfall for the UCI Gravel World Series. The Belgian not only brought a wave of attention to the race but also added a prestigious name to its winners' list. Yet his participation was not the only breakthrough at Sunday's gravel race.

Van Aert made his return to competitive racing on Sunday after his Paris-Roubaix victory — but chose to do so not on the road. The Marly Grav in Valkenburg was the lucky race to welcome the Visma | Lease a Bike all-rounder. He faced genuine competition from road professionals including gravel world champion Florian Vermeersch and Pascal Eenkhoorn. Van Aert attacked solo inside the final 25 kilometres to cross the line 44 seconds clear of second place.

Thanks to Van Aert's presence and victory, the race drew considerably more attention than usual. But there was a second reason to celebrate. For the first time, a Gravel World Series race was shown live on television, where previously only the European and World Championships had received broadcast coverage. Erwin Vervecken, manager of the UCI Gravel World Series, told Sporza that they were using the Marly Grav as a test run.

"There are more difficulties than with a road race, where you can simply follow riders on a motorbike," Vervecken explained. "In off-road disciplines like cyclo-cross and mountain biking, they use fixed cameras on a limited course." Gravel races, however, sit awkwardly between the two, which creates its own problems.

"Our course is too long for fixed cameras, but the tracks are sometimes too narrow for motorbikes." There is a further complication unique to gravel: amateurs and professionals race together, something Vervecken sees as one of the sport's key appeals. "But it creates challenges when lapped riders are on a narrow track. Add a camera motorbike to that and... well, those are the challenges."

Whether the test was a success — and whether more World Series races will follow on television — is something Vervecken cannot yet say. "Those conversations are still ongoing."

Second-placed finisher Niels Vandeputte was also delighted to see Van Aert at the start. "Wherever Van Aert shows up, he attracts a lot of attention." But the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider believes that is not the only reason the Marly Grav draws interest. "It's probably in the top three of the biggest gravel races in Europe, so there is always some interest regardless. But Van Aert's participation was definitely a positive."

Vervecken suggested that races like this can serve as a pleasant interlude for professional road riders — and even a genuine alternative to a training camp in Spain. "If they want to push bigger numbers, gravel cycling is a great option. You're always putting out more power because you're off-road, on wider tyres." Perhaps Van Aert has now set a precedent — and we may yet see more road professionals lining up at gravel events in the seasons to come.