Kasia Niewiadoma wins Women's UCI Gravel World Championships with Solo Attack

Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma attacked solo to win the UCI Gravel World Championships and claim her first rainbow jersey in Veneto, Italy on Saturday

A group of riders, mostly road, pulled clear of the main peloton, Niewiadoma attacked the Italian and Dutch lead group to solo to the finish line with 25km to go.

Behind, Silvia Persico (Italy) took the silver medal, whilst Demi Vollering (Netherlands) took third, the pair finishing 32 seconds adrift of the winner.

Two more Dutch riders in Yara Kastelijn and Lorena Wiebes completed the top five and truly took control of the race.

On the first of two local laps, 23 riders had pulled clear with four Italians, seven riders from the Netherlands, including Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes, including Niewiadoma, Tiffany Cromwell (Australia) and Heidi Franz (USA). The only big gravel specialst in contention was Argentina’s Sofia Gomez Villafañe and Australia's Tiffany Cromwell.

The first gravel specialist to finish was Cromwell, in tenth, finishing almost seven minutes down after the race exploded.

“This is so sweet! I really don’t have words for it. It’s my first rainbow jersey. I’m just so happy.” said Niewiadoma afterwards, “On the early climbs, I felt good and could see the others suffering. So when we came closer to the end, I attacked, expecting Demi [Vollering] or someone to join me, and we had a chance to go away together. I didn’t think I would go alone, but I wanted to eliminate some numbers in the group. I knew the final lap from the course recon and that there were some technical parts, so I felt it was a good time for me to go at that moment.”

The UCI was forced to apologize that the women's race wasn't being broadcast LIVE and promised it next year.

VIDEO: 2023 Women's UCI Gravel World Championships Highlights

2023 Women's UCI Gravel World Championships Top 10

1 NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna CANYON//SRAM Racing 4H 49' 44"
2 PERSICO Silvia UAE Team ADQ + 33"
3 VOLLERING Demi Team SD Worx "
4 KASTELIJN Yara Fenix-Deceuninck + 1' 29"
5 WIEBES Lorena Team SD Worx + 1' 33"
6 STEPHENS Lauren EF Education-TIBCO-SVB + 4' 02"
7 BOILARD Simone St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93 + 5' 19"
8 FISHER-BLACK Niamh Team SD Worx + 5' 23"
9 REALINI Gaia Lidl-Trek + 6' 03"
10 CROMWELL Tiffany CANYON//SRAM Racing + 6' 47"