Engineer and Racer - Bronze medal at the Gravel Worlds for Davide Fumagalli, head of R&D at Colnago

Davide Fumagalli, head of Research and Development at Colnago - the engineer who is likely to have designed your Colnago - last weekend participated in the first Gravel World Championships, held in Veneto. After the race of the elite athletes, followed the race for amateurs, in which David finished third in his category.

Davide, how was it taking part in the first Gravel Worlds?

It was fun, I don’t usually do a lot of racing. You know, I used to race more, but this year the first Gravel Worlds was really an event that I couldn’t miss. Actually, I have always done gravel, even when it wasn’t so popular. I used to go out on my lunch break with my cyclocross bike.?

You know, even though it was the World Championships, there was little pressure, I didn’t feel it very much, to be honest. It really was an experience.

A lot has been written about elite athletes. What kind of race was yours?

The route was easy. Consider for example the elevation profile, there were two short climbs in the first 20km that were not enough to make a selection. So the selection came through accidents, falls, and mechanical problems in the race.?

The group broke for the first time at the 30th kilometer after a fall. I stayed behind, then, together with other athletes, I managed to get back a dozen miles later - there were only 20 of us.?

My race was compromised following the fall of a Finnish guy who was in front of me. I also stumbled and since then I found myself chasing the group alone... slowly but I managed to raise a small group. In the end, I finished third in the category, but I could have done better. The men who won my category were among the few who managed to save themselves from falls, always in the leading group.?

The course of the race was different from what you normally expect from a flat course: on asphalt they would have arrived in a group of 50 sprinting; with gravel dynamics instead, it went differently. No sprint for any category, neither among amateurs nor among the pros (except what happened in the women’s elite race, where Pauline Ferrand-Prévot outsprinted Sina Frei)

What bike did you use?

I used my Colnago G3-X, which I have owned for three years but which I repainted for the occasion. The bike was fitted with a Sram Red XPLR groupset and Enve 3.4 wheels.

For the curious, it should be said that, compared to other athletes, I had a complete gravel configuration, with 40 Pirelli RC tires, not very smooth but that gave me more safety for the dirt tracks.

If you could go back, would you make the same choices?

If I could go back I’d use a double crown and slightly smaller tires, at the most a 35 trimmed.

What was it like to experience the challenge of gravel, first as an engineer, and then as an athlete?

The Colnago G3-X is Colnago’s first gravel bike, but it has to be said that it is the result of years of experience in cyclocross. A rich heritage, which makes the G3-X nothing more than an evolution of a bike that’s already super appreciated.?

Inventing myself as a gravel cyclist was more complicated. I’ve always done cyclocross and mountain biking, as well as road rides. I needed a competitive opportunity to do what I used to do with my friends on the weekend. Gravel racing is a super accelerated version of those rides, but the difficulties increase dramatically.

What are the factors that matter most in making a gravel bike competitive, in your opinion?

The fundamental thing, in my opinion, is to have a robust bike. The stresses that you feel are shocking: bumps, stones, scree. Also, in the race you do not slow down and you can not always choose where to go. That’s why you need a reliable bike, fitted with components that give you confidence.

In addition, the bike must be comfortable - in terms of position, geometries and fitting - so you can withstand many hours in the saddle.

Compared to the racing bike, some negligible details are the weight and rigidity (intended as extreme research of power transfer) because on a certain type of surface, as on trails and single tracks, are factors that have less effect.

Head of an engineer, legs of an athlete: do you ever test new solutions before proposing them for Colnago?

You know, the part I like most about my work is being able to be the first tester of everything I design. During my rides, from my personal needs and from the experiences that I share, I manage to get some interesting tricks and ideas that I then try to study and apply in my work.

An example?

The C68’s multitool was something I needed. Or again, the shape of the integrated handlebar stems from some things I noticed while riding the G3-X.