Alexey Vermeulen, Sarah Sturm and Paige Onweller are 3 of Team USA's gravel'specialists' locked and loaded for an explosive race at the UCI Gravel World Championships this weekend. They had pre-ridden all or most of the course, all said it was challenging and technical for a "worthy" gravel world title, and the winner was likely to be decided pretty early from before the race start.

"It's a proper course. It's tight, it's technical. It has a very, very, very steep climb, it has a paved climb and a loose climb. It has paved downhill, loose downhill. At the end there is a true gravel winner. It will be very intense all day. It does not play like a road race. No one is going to ride a 35mm slick This is a true gravel race," Vermeulen told Cyclingnews, who won back-to-back wins at Rad Dirt Fest and Chequamegon MTB Festival and was ranked 2nd overall in the Lifetime Grand Prix series.

Coming from a pro-road background that includes two seasons on the world tour with LottoNL-Jumbo, Vermeulen said the new grid position characterizes how the contest will play, but Team USA has 169km to sort things out for elite men and 140km for elite women. "I think one of our biggest problems will be the start of Sunday."

"I think one of our biggest problems will be the start of Sunday. This course is going to be a bit of luck in the draw," Vermeulen told cyclingnews.

In this year's race, the rules on the start grid have been readjusted.That's because we had to change the initial grid plan when there was quite a surprise when it was discovered last year that an outstanding player in the qualifying UCI Gravel World Series was relegated to the back of a rider who collected UCI points on roads, mountain bikes and cyclocross.

When it comes to starting positions this year, the points in the UCI Gravel World Series are fully considered along with the points earned at the 2022 UCI Gravel World Championship, but the road, cyclocross, mountain bike cross-country and marathon races are not the same. 50% of the points in the UCI ranking are considered. But famous US gravel races such as Unbound have left US teams on their hind legs when it comes to the start grid ranking system described in the race's technical guide.

"So there are 235 guys on the start list and maybe there's a missing guy, that's just a lot of riders. It starts in a grid like a race of cyclocross, literally, from the gun, you climb the hill, and it's pretty much the start of cyclocross," Vermeulen said. "If you're in 150th place, you won't travel too far in the first 3k. Climbing a little below 8,000 feet or 100 miles doesn't change the whole race."

Sturm, with a background in mountain biking and cyclocross, was among the 20 U.S. women who finished in the top 3 in the first world. This year he was third overall in the Unbound Gravel 200 and now fourth overall in the Lifetime Grand Prix standings. She had agreed on a course layout that would eliminate some mountaineering for elite women, as well as predictions for a chaotic start.

"I think the start will be pretty decisive. The terrain itself is going to make some choices for positioning, but call ups, of course, will be important. Maybe they're calling national champions, so hopefully Lauren [Stevens] gets a good place," she said, noting that grid positions were not being offered to Team USA riders.

"Last year, it was unclear until the morning of the race if they had made a call-up. Later, Sofia [Gómez Villafache] won the Unbound and Pauline [Ferran-Prevo] was named World mountain bike champion. And I was called to the second row, I do not know how I went up there.

"It's less of a shit show this year due to the lack of better terms, but there are more high-profile names because people are taking it more seriously."

Onweller competes domestically on roads and gravel and takes her first run in the Rainbow Band for Team USA women. She won last year's Big Sugar Gravel and is ranked 9th overall in the Lifetime Grand Prix series.

"U.S. gravel Ibe further, the way UCI has determined the starting position certainly hates the U.S. pure gravel riders, but we remain optimistic because of how tight the course will be more difficult to position for those who lack the experience of European racing," Onweller said. "I think it's a good idea," he told Cyclingnews.

"Thankfully, the course is very different from last year, with lots of 'true gravel' and challenging climbing, which makes it a worthy winner.

In just year 2, the field for Elite women at the Gravel World Championship has grown more than 2 times, with nearly 112 riders expected at the start at Spresiano, up from the 2022 50 who were on the start list. The largest contingent comes from the Netherlands with 15 riders, with 11 in Italy and 10 in the UK.

"Both the men's and women's teams in the United States are excited to be here and are keen to work collectively. On the women's side, we have some strong women with a solid mix of backgrounds that we can rely on each other," Onweller summed up.

With US riders on the women's team almost doubling this year and expected to start against five last year, Sturm speculated that "If you have two American women in the mix, it's a lot more exciting than one of you being bullied."

Will 9 women in the United States make plans and implement them?

"Lauren Stevens and Heidi Franz both have a lot of European road experience racing and gravel, so I worked for them and I raced with them both. And it is my dream, as a person who has never raced the road, to be domestique. I feel like I can crush it as livestock," Sturm admitted. "Do I think it's going to be useful or work?"I want to believe it will be. But I don't know if the course will be useful for everyone and for the team's tactics. I don't think [the course] is wide enough to really benefit the drafting.

"What Team USA is dealing with is the same thing as most other teams, except for the Dutch team. The majority of us have worked together all season, not racing on the road and know this course really well. They just released the course a few weeks ago, so none of it."

As a U.S. racer playing at the top level on the more traditional gravel courses in North America, Sturm is heavy on playing on the international stage and going to the world to represent the roots of gravel

"So far, I'm more excited about it than last year. Last year was definitely about the experience of "Well, let's see what this is." Obviously, gravel is changing a lot from year to year. I am disappointed that the United States does not host the first two or three World Championship events. It can really change the sport, and it is. It's just like passing the key, in some way."

Vermeulen was positive about restoring the team atmosphere from the traditional path of gravel pursuit of "privateers". His recon of Wednesday's course was laid–back with his usual foes – Swenson, Brennan Wertz, Tobin Ortenblad, Zach Calton and Payson McElveen - now teammates.

"It's very strange that you have a plan together on how to attack the best races that can come and coexist with the people who fight most of the year. We have the opportunity to show what the United States can do with a sport that is somewhat created in our home soil. We're not walking here thinking we're going to wax someone, or there's a guarantee of the top 10," Vermeulen said.

It's great for that road team to feel again and feel like everyone is helping everyone at any given time. It's exciting for me to be part of Team USA. That team friendship is not and I think never before, but really exists in private gravel racing."

If a bunch of 10 U.S. riders can survive a challenging start to Sunday's race, they'll work as a team and who will support the group," it was a fluid topic.

"I think it's great that Luke Lampelty is here. He's a very good finisher," Vermeulen said of the three-time US Prokriterium champion. "But Keegan has shown many times that he is the one who can finish the race at the front. So if there is a possibility that we can put them in a position to make it easier, it is a comprehensive goal.

"Like a lot of people, we all want to see what Keegan [Swenson] or our team can do. So there's a great emphasis on how we can support Keegan. It's also a gravel race and it's not easy for everyone."