Laurens ten Dam, Piotr Havik and Ivar Slik were among the seven elite men named to the wild card roster for the Dutch national team headed to the UCI Gravel World Championships, October 7-8. Riejanne Markus was among the elite women’s selections, with the cycling federation of the Netherlands (KNWU) confirming Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten.
KNWU named a total of 14 riders for wild card entries ahead of the UEC Gravel European Championships on October 1, where nine of these riders will be on the start lines to participate. The complete Dutch roster for Worlds was expected until after the European Championships this Sunday in Belgium.
Ten Dam, who was second at Unbound Gravel 200 in 2021 and fourth in the next two outings, is the only one of the seven men not headed the UEC Gravel race this weekend. Slik, the 2022 Unbound Gravel 200 champion, and Havik, who was third at Gravel One Fifty in the Netherlands in July, will be joined by Jasper Ockeloen, Niki Terpstra, Sebastian van Oranje and Lars Loohuis.
Ockeloen had a strong gravel season in 2023, scoring second at the Belgian Waffle Ride in California, third at Gravel Grit ‘n Grind in Sweden, and 10th at Unbound. Terpstra won the Swedish round of the UCI Gravel World Series. Loohuis won the elite men’s gravel title at Dutch nationals in early September, with Van Oranje taking the bronze. Of the seven men on the wild card roster, all but Van Oranje and Loohuis have retired from pro road racing.
Earlier this week, two-time road World Champion Van Vleuten and reigning Tour de France Femmes winner Vollering revealed through Dutch media reports with AD and Wielerflits that they would take part in the season-ending gravel race for rainbow stripes.
Joining the two WorldTour stars will be another top-tier road rider Riejanne Markus (Jumbo-Visma), who was the top finisher among a two-rider Dutch women’s team at last year’s Gravel World Championships, finishing 10th overall. She’ll be joined by WorldTour pro Femke Markus, who rides on Team SD Worx with Vollering, and Yara Kastelijn of Alpecin-Deceuninck, who has three times finished fifth for elite women at the Cyclocross World Championships.
Noa Jansen and Tessa Neefjes have experience on the road, and the duo have the most experience on gravel. Neefjes was the bronze medalist for elite women at this year’s gravel nationals and had seven top 10s at UCI Gravel World Series events, including wins at 3RIDES in Germany and Gravel Challenge Blaavands in Denmark. Jansen was third at Gravel Challenge Blaavands and Gravel Adventure in Poland. They will race at the UEC Gravel Championships with Kastelijn.
Other notable Dutch women competing Sunday in the European Gravel Championships are Fem van Empel, the Dutch national gravel champion and the bronze medalist at the 2023 Cyclocross World Champion for elite women, and Pauliena Rooijakers, who finished second at gravel nationals and won two rounds of the Gravel World Series in 2023 at Houffa Gravel and Gravel One Fifty.
Athletes qualified for the Gravel World Championships throughout the season at 16 UCI Gravel World Series events in elite categories and age group divisions. Participating nations are also allowed to select up to 20 additional athletes as wild cards in the elite categories.
The elite women’s race at the Gravel World Championships takes place on a 140km route on Saturday, October 7, the day before Van Vleuten’s 41st birthday. The elite men’s race follows on Sunday across 169km.
Dutch wild card roster – elite men
- Laurens ten Dam
- Niki Terpstra
- Ivar Slik
- Jasper Ockeloen
- Piotr Havik
- Sebastiaan van Oranje
- Lars Loohuis
Dutch wild card roster – elite women
- Annemiek van Vleuten
- Demi Vollering
- Tessa Neefjes
- Yara Kastelijn
- Noa Jansen
- Femke Markus
- Riejanne Markus
