When Cube asked me to use their Nuroad C:62 EX gravel bike for a race, I didn’t think I’d be lining up against the 2026 Paris–Roubaix winner. Still, how hard could it be?
Marly Grav forms part of the UCI’s Gravel World Series and serves as a qualification event for the World Championships which, this year, will be held in Nannup, Western Australia. It is quite a big deal for gravel pros and, due to its location and timing, can attract a selection of the biggest pro road riders, such as Lorena Wiebes and Wout Van Aert.
And then there is me…
My bike for the day
Cube gave me the choice of its entire gravel lineup and, being a certified mid-pack rider, I chose the mid-priced Nuroad C:62 EX.
£3,099 gets you a lot from Cube, and the bike’s beautifully painted carbon frame comes fitted with a Shimano GRX Wireless 1x groupset. While many of the pros fit 2x road components, I was quite happy with the huge spread of gears as the start town of Valkenburg sits at the foot of the iconic Cauberg.
Newmen provides the wheels and the finishing kit, and those wheels are carbon which is excellent for the price of this bike. I had the Advanced G.34 wheels with 45mm Continental Terra Trail tyres. This might not be the fastest setup available from Cube, but with 1,800m of climbing on the cards and completely unknown surface conditions, I was happy with the more versatile combination.
At the front end, Newmen’s Advanced Gravel Bar provided plenty of flare, and I dropped the stem down, making use of the splittable spacers on the headset.
While I knew little about the course, I had seen pictures of the previous year’s pro races. After noticing some very road-oriented setups, I decided to opt for my Favero Assioma Pro RS pedals to keep an eye on my power output.
There was a slight risk here in terms of clogging up my cleats, and I had to be wary of my knee, which has been giving me trouble for a while.
For bags, I fitted the Acid top tube bag, which housed the spares I’d need quickly. I then stuffed all of the more serious repair kit in the Acid saddle bag.
To deal with the first puncture of the day, I had a tubeless plug tool taped to the top of my stem. Thankfully, it remained attached all day.
The start
The UCI’s gravel series, especially the races in Northern Europe, have gained something of a reputation for their road race-like starts. As the first 5km (including the famous Cauberg climb of Amstel Gold) passed at 30kph and a 280w normalised power, I could see why many don’t see this as pure gravel. The ‘spirited’ start did reignite the racer in me, and I got busy following wheels through groups and across gaps.
It didn’t take long for the first gravel to roll under my wheels, and I got my first taste of fighting for shelter as the dust of a dry day filled the air.
While the Cauberg had been a sharp ascent, the course took its time meandering down. In the lanes with steeply banked sides, we found the only muddy spots. While these were little more than a few metres long, the combination of slick mud and slick tyres resulted in a few early crashes.
It is fair to say that the opening 31km, covered in an hour, saw me getting a little carried away with the racing. The regular corners and slight rises in the course meant that I was jumping on the pedals with a bit too much gusto, and this meant flying into corners faster than I’d done in a while.
Thankfully, the Nuroad is a forgiving machine. I was quickly comfortable with pushing the pace through the corners and down the descents.
Sensible heads usually prevail
While it was good fun to get mixed up in a bike race again, I remembered two rather crucial things. Firstly, the 150km distance, while not long by North American race standards, meant at least five hours on the bike.
Secondly, I needed to look after my knee, which had been troublesome over the last month. A slight tendon issue meant that I hadn’t been able to ride as much as I’d like, and my fitness wasn’t where it should have been to race the whole distance.
As a result, I backed off the pace after an hour and a half, choosing instead to hang with groups on the faster sections, before riding my own pace on any climbs.
The tactic was paying off for around 60km, and I was very happy to take in the sights of the Limburg hills.
Marly Grav was also one of the best supported events I’ve ever ridden. The feed zones had ample food if you wanted to stop, but there were also countless bottles to catch as I rattled through.
The third lap of the course felt a little tedious, but there was plenty of variety in the gravel, while getting passed by the front of the age group races ensured I kept paying attention.
Then my silly legs fell off
That is, until it all went wrong around the 100km mark. It’s quite simple, really, my legs fell off.
The issues started a little earlier as I started struggling to get the fuel in. After a forced gel and ever smaller sips of my drink, I was longing for a plain water. But none could be found and I started staring at my fate.
I am well accustomed to a bonk, but due to the fast start, this was a new level. I got to the stage where my watts matched my heart rate, which is never a good place to be.
The solution was simple, and will be familiar to many of you who have found yourselves in a similar situation. To prevent a total head loss, I set small goals, firstly to get the majority of the climbing done. In my mind, I could then believe it was all downhill to the finish.
Next was getting to the end of the laps, which would mean there was just 9km left. But most importantly, I tried, despite cramp in my arms, to savour all of the flowing descents.
These gravel paths are much better than anything I have local to me in the UK, so I reminded myself that I’d be itching to ride these again after just a few days of recovery.
The most welcome of all finishes
Finally, with 5hrs 45 mins on the clock and a cool 1hr 45 mins after Wout had finished, the heavenly finish came into sight. On the final tarmac section I stopped to push a rider with a fully slashed rear tyre.
Unsurprisingly, there was no UCI qualification medal waiting for me at the finish line, but I did finally get a bottle of water. After cardio coughing my way through an outro to the video at the top of this page, I handed the now very dusty Nuroad back to the good folks at Cube, and dashed off to catch the Eurotunnel…
