Gravel World Championships top 5 Age group finish!

Continuing on with the theme of people in their fifties living their best lives and achieving outstanding results, in this post we hear from Daniela Mollica, the mother of three from the St Kilda cycling club who recently competed at the UCI Gravel age group championships.   I met Daniela for the first time at the Amy Gillet Gran Fondo in Lorne earlier this year, when we rode in the same bunch along the Great Ocean Road, where she showed her dogged determination to stay with the bunch, no matter how hard things got.  To her credit, she won  the 50-54 age group. A week later, I bumped into her at the Northern Combine Pastoria race, where she won B grade women's. Over to Daniela to tell her story about a day out, that she is never likely to forget.

 

So on Saturday 7th of Octover in Treviso, Italy I rode the 2023 UCI gravel world championships.  The race was the hardest gravel race I have ever done. It was brutal…but magnificent! My body feels battered from all of the rocks flying that hit us and the challenges of controlling the bike on sections often better suited to mountain bikes.


There were steep gravel climbs (multiple times over 20%) & technical descents with river crossings and single tracks. Vineyards, ancient reo exposed in old concrete roads, people falling, mechanicals, 1000’s of turns, dust and unseasonal heat of 30+ degrees…

The racing was on from the start with 2 girls away and 4 of us chasing. I had to burn a lot of matches to stay in the race and got over the first two climbs without conceding time. The next climb saw me drop a bit (sooooo steep! 26% on old concrete roads) but I got it back on the technical descent. On the last climb I dropped to 7th as two girls passed me, but i didn’t give up and got one back as she was walking the 25% gravel top section, which I rode and then passed the next one as she walked the perilous rocky dangerous descent which I rode like a woman possessed. I held them off in the final twisty turny 4km and cramped in the final 500m but maintained 5th.

… it was AWESOME. I loved it, gave it my all, rode every inch of it and left nothing out there. Sure I was gunning for a podium but I’m super stoked with 5th. Those girls were strong and fierce!!!

Huge Thankyou to @murray.cod for holding the fort at home. To Matthew Jackson at CycleInn for the new stead. To my wingman Rob and to my coach @robert.aughey for the preparation.




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