The road no longer exists, the road is another. The road is now more tortuous, dirt, dirt for 40 wheels, for gravel bikes, gravel bikes. Daniel Oss after fourteen seasons as a professional, after five call-ups to the Italian national team, after a lifetime of cycling in top teams such as Bmc, Bora, Total Energies, after two world titles in the team time trial in Ponferrada in 2014 and in Richmond in 2015 and after a lifetime at side of Peter Sagan embarks on a new challenge. Today, with Vincenzo Nibali, Alessandro Ballan, Marco Aurelio Fontana and other athletes from the Garmin team, will be at the start of the eighth edition of Nova Eroica Buonconvento, on those Strade Bianche that Eroica rediscovered and which then effectively became a sixth monument. “There is competitive spirit but there is also a more relaxed atmosphere – says the 37-year-old champion from Pergine Valsugana – For me it is a new life in a new world, in great expansion, both in terms of the actual competitions but also from that of adventure and participation in these events. I don’t see it as an end to my career but as a new opportunity…”. The spark is not of these days. Oss has already won silver in the gravel world championship in 2022 and is aiming to be called up by the coach this year Daniele Pontoni for a blue jersey to wear in the world championship that will take place in October in Flanders. Alongside her are leading sponsors such as Specialized, Garmin and Sportful but above all the desire to compete in a discipline that is also gaining the attention of many big names on the road Vout Van Aert to Matej Morijcfrom Alejandro Valverde to Niki Terpstra, to ours Simone Velasco And Alessandro De Marchi. “Compared to the road there are many differences– explains Oss – Not so much regarding training or fatigue which are more or less similar. What changes is the management of the race. In gravel competitions you can say that it’s everyone for themselves, there isn’t a team behind you, strategies change, there are fewer tactics, the management of mechanical problems and punctures is also different. Then other factors also come into play which concern the bike riding technique, the reading of maps in endurance races, the nutrition which must be managed independently because there are no flagships following you.”. A few months ago Oss participated in the Girona in Spain Traka, a 360 kilometer challenge among the most epic of this new gravel discipline and next week the Italian championships in Oltrepò are in sight. Today, however, it’s Buonconvento’s turn: “What is striking here is that there is a nice atmosphere of conviviality – he says – You can see that people are happy and want to cycle to have fun. It’s still hard but in the end it’s also nice to all come together and enjoy a beer…”. The road, the stages, the retreats are behind him and he won’t miss them. Now there is a new type of cycling ahead which has great prospects from a competitive point of view but also from an amateur and commercial one and which has a great desire to see champions who have left their mark on the road at the start. A world that is growing quickly and which here in Buonconvento has tripled the number of participants at the start from one year to the next, from all over the world, including 32 Americans: “What growth potential can gravel races have in the next few years from one to ten ? So, without thinking too much, I feel like saying eleven…”
Jack Williams
Jack Williams established himself as the editor-in-chief of The Vermilion with rigorous journalistic traits and an incessant quest for truth. His career began as an investigative reporter, where he quickly gained a reputation for his in-depth research and insightful articles. Williams takes his role at The Vermilion very seriously. Since he became editor-in-chief, he has set an editorial line based on impartiality, factual accuracy, and context relevance; this has established The Vermilion as a reference for political, economic, and global news. Under his leadership, the media continues its mission of reporting news with accuracy and equanimity, giving a voice to those who are often overlooked by large-scale media. Jack dedicates himself to fulfilling this mandate with passion, rigour, and unwavering determination.