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Matej Mohorič raced to victory on the second-ever UCI Gravel World Championships yesterday. Arriving solo on the end line in Pieve de Soligo, Italy forward of defending champion Gianni Vermeeersch and Connor Swift.
Being a member of the Bahrain Victorious World Tour crew means Mohorič raced on Merida frames and the Slovenian rode what seems to be a model new and unreleased model of the model’s gravel bike, the Silex. Cyclingnews managed to take some pictures of the successful bike on the finish of the race.
The gear and tech narrative within the run-up to final 12 months’s race was totally different with loads of riders opting to make use of highway bikes fitted with gravel tyres in a seek for all-out velocity. This 12 months’s course within the Veneto area of Northern Italy posed extra of a technical problem for opponents in addition to rougher terrain and we outlined numerous these in our complete tech preview just a few days earlier than the occasion.
Matej Mohorič is famous as being a rider with a watch for element and for optimising a few of his highway bike setups to attempt to extract as a lot velocity as potential. He is additionally the rider who very almost made the highway biking world explode for just a few days after successful a monument utilizing a dropper seatpost.
Mohorič selected to not experience the Scultura Endurance GR gravel bike which Merida launched in June, and as a substitute appears to be like to have raced on a brand new model of the Silex; extra of a gravel all-rounder with an eight-model vary at present. Maybe this new body is a racier model. Both approach, a World Title isn’t a nasty begin for any new bike earlier than it is launched formally.
The body would not appear like an all-out gravel aero providing, with a spherical seatpost and handlebar. There are dropped seatstays on the rear however they don’t seem to be excessive, although they’re a distinct form to something within the present Silex vary. Mounting factors will also be seen on the fork legs and high tube of the bike which once more sign bikepacking or adventuring capabilities.
The brand new Silex body might seem to look a bit extra rounded than some aggressive gravel race bikes however Mohorič’s setup is unquestionably centered on efficiency. The Slovenian used a Dura-Ace 2x groupset, an 11-34T cassette on the rear and the bottom chainring mixture he might have had on the entrance was 34-50T. Mohorič additionally used his common Dura-Ace SPD SL highway pedals, which we noticed plenty of riders doing.
The wheels are Imaginative and prescient Metron 45 SL disc clinchers with team-only white decals. Arrange tubeless had been Continental Terra Velocity tyres which have a light-weight tread sample throughout the entire tyre and have a puncture safety layer.
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