An early pioneer to alternative gravel racing after a career on WorldTour roads, Laurens ten Dam is preparing for a second appearance at the UCI Gravel World Championships for the Netherlands. This time, however, he'll set a new milestone as both rider and coach, having been appointed in the spring as the national coach for the Dutch gravel programme.
Known as the 'godfather' of a growing contingency of his gravel racing peers, the 43-year-old continues to compete on a high level. In four appearances at Unbound Gravel 200, he's finished fourth or better three times and set a new record in the early spring for the non-stop division of Transcordilleras in Colombia.
Ten Dam gets asked a lot of questions now as a coach, and the top one is, "Will Mathieu van der Poel race at the Gravel World Championships this year?" As the reigning road World Champion, Van der Poel is set to defend his title in Zürich this Sunday at Road World Championships, and has not confirmed his participation for gravel yet, but Ten Dam is ready.
"I have 10 wildcards left and I saved one for him," Ten Dam told Cyclingnews. "During the European Championships he said the chance he's riding the [Gravel] Worlds is bigger than he's not. It will be a last-minute decision for him. I don't think the UCI will say 'no' if he wants to compete."
Van der Poel would be a favourite to add a gravel rainbow jersey to his growing collection, having won six in cyclocross and vying for a second road world title in just a few days. He has dominated some of the biggest one-day Classics with Alpecin-Deceuninck this year, going back-to-back this spring with wins at Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix plus podiums at Gent-Wevelgem and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
But Ten Dam was quick to add that among his roster of close to 37 qualified elite riders and another 20 wildcard selections, the women's squad was the one to beat in Leuven at the Gravel World Championships.
"Puck Pieterse, she won the Mountain Bike Worlds, and if she wins this, she can go for the off-road triple," he said about the 22-year-old, who won this year's women's elite title in cross-country mountain bike and took the U23 crown in cyclocross worlds in 2022. She is also a stage winner at the Tour de France Femmes into Liège, showcasing her multi-disciplinary talents for Fenix-Deceuninck.
"And then Marianne Vos [2022 Dutch gravel champion], second at the Olympic Games [road race], she's a story. And Lorena Wiebes [2023 UEC Gravel champion]. So basically, they are half of the Olympic team. That's pretty fucking amazing."
Ten Dam said it was a tall task to make arrangements for a national team that was close to 60 elite members, the final roster to be confirmed in the coming days. He is making plans for a team house where a mechanic, soigneur and supplies can be accessed for the national team, and has confirmed the federation will also provide a team doctor. He was getting more proficient in Excel to keep track of team apparel and rider information.
"It's totally different than like a road team or the other disciplines within the UCI, because basically, a lot of the athletes, they can qualify themselves - the first 25% of UCI qualifiers, or national champions, or like myself at the European Championships. I do have the 20 wild cards from the federation.
"I use the wildcards only for the WorldTour pros, the ProTeam pros, both men and women, who have a big programme with the road teams. And the good cyclocross riders. I only have to select the wildcards, but because I made those requirements, you have to be a pro," he said.
"With the women, I got a lot of requests for wildcards. With the men, it's a bit more difficult because they have races still in France and Spain, and China."
He noted that in addition to Pieterse, Vos and Wiebes, he expected the all-star cast to include Fem van Empel, Lucinda Brand, Thalita de Jong, Riejanne Markus, Yara Kasteleijn and others.
On the men's side, Jasper Ockeloen would be "the guy", as he was the top Dutch elite man last year in 13th position. Ten Dam named newcomer Adne Koster and cyclocross specialist Joris Niewwenhuis as two more contenders.
This year Ten Dam, who also operates Live Slow Ride Fast, did not have a 'regular' schedule of events like the past three years, and after Unbound Gravel he focused on completing Tour Divide's 4200km trek in the western US but coming up short by 2 days for a record there.
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