Gravel has been added to the list of disciplines that Lotte Kopecký can handle when she is not at her best. The Belgian rider was one second away from winning back-to-back world titles in a week when she took the UCI Gravel World Championships in front of her home crowd.

The elite women's race for the rainbow stripes came down to an explosive last 175 meters after 133km of punchy climbs and potholes, with Marianne Vos (Netherlands) holding off Kopecký for the win.

This finish was the first time that Vos had won a silver medal in a road race at the Paris Olympics, ahead of Kopecky, and the gold medal had already been won by Kristen Faulkner of the United States. And this time the race, held in the heart of Leuven on an unfamiliar surface, produced a similar result.

“It was fun and that's why I came here. It lived up to its expectations,” Kopecky told Cycling News in the mixed zone after winning the silver medal.

Kopecky came into the gravel championships on the heels of winning his second world title in the road race a week earlier. One of the fastest riders in the world on the track, she has already won six gold medals at the world championships. Her expectations were modest, as this was her first attempt at a gravel race, and her challenge for the world title was an unusual one.

“I am not ashamed to say that I finished second behind Marianne. I am not ashamed to have finished second behind Marianne,” she said. I should have taken a different approach in the sprint.”

On the approach to the lap through Leuven with less than 50km to go, Lopecky and Vos accelerated to break away from the quartet with Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) and Soraya Paladin (Italy). The duo formed a Dutch-Belgian truce, pulling away from the rest of the pack and settling on the second pass to Leuven.

Kopecký and Vos continued on through more undulating small roads, this time through the forests of Meerdahloud, to extend their lead. Live coverage showed Kopecky pressuring Voss as they exited the forest and the players stretched out their backs a short distance apart in the open field.

The two ran in and out of the woods. The forest road was constantly switching between shadows and bright sunlight, and the uneven surface was tricky. I saw Kopecky stretch out again.

“My legs were fine, but my back was about to explode. But my hips were exploding. I think it's because I'm not used to the impact from the hall. So hopefully it wasn't too bad. I just tried to relax my hips as much as I could for the finish,” she explained in the mixed zone.

In the final 5km of the race, the gap between the two widened from three to four minutes. Two kilometers later, the cooperation treaty expired and Vos attacked on the steep cobblestone climb up the Ramberg towards the city center. But Vos returned to the pavement and the two settled on the wide boulevard of Bondgenotenlaan.

“At the end Marianna started to sprint. I made some mistakes. I think I waited too long,” Kopecky said. But Marianna was faster.”

Kopecky said he liked the course because of its constant undulations, turns, and rough surface. However, he said that the difficulty of positioning himself during the race was a very different perspective from that of a solo reconnaissance.

“When we scouted this week, it felt really hard. So [Saturday] was not as hard as I expected it to be. With a bigger group, it's mainly about positioning,” she told Cycling News about the deceptive difficulty of the narrow setup.

“If you don't position yourself in the right sectors, you can actually lose the race. So there are a few key takeaways from this course.

A win would have given Kopecki her second world title in a week, and she was pleased to have performed at such a high level on her first gravel.

“With Marianna, I think we have a very worthy champion.”

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