Vittoria Terreno Dry – The Tire Choice of the UCI Gravel World Champions

October 14, 2022

The inaugural edition of the UCI Gravel World Championships saw Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Gianni Vermeersch win the rainbow jersey on the Vittoria Terreno Dry

/ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – The Terreno Dry tires chosen by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Gianni Vermeersch proved their capability to adapt to a mix of hard and loose dry terrains and impressive speeds. In addition, Air-Liner Gravel inserts were chosen by many riders to grant reliability in the race without mobile technical support.

The first UCI Gravel World Championships sealed the greatness of this discipline and marked a new path for Vittoria as the first Gravel World Champion ever, thanks to the Terreno Dry gravel tires.

The inaugural edition of the UCI Gravel World Championships saw Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Gianni Vermeersch win the rainbow jersey with two very different approaches. XCO, XCC, and XCM World Champion Ferrand-Prévot (BMC) won her 4th world title of the year by initially infiltrating a large group of riders and then heading a smaller, five-rider group for the last two hours of the race. The lead group split in the closing kilometers, and Ferrand-Prévot securely held off the challenge by Swiss mountain biker Sina Frei.

Former cyclocross rider Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Fenix) was active from the start and, alongside Daniel Oss, attacked with 130km left in the race. The chasing group left too big of a gap and could not catch up to the two leaders. The Belgian attacked his breakaway companion Oss inside the final 10 kilometers and soloed to victory.

Terreno Dry: Reliable and Fast-Rolling Gravel Tires

Ferrand-Prévot and Vermeersch had one thing in common besides finishing ahead of all their opponents. They both relied on Vittoria Terreno Dry gravel tires, as many other riders did during the weekend, having a wide range of sizes and casings available. The Terreno Dry are available in four different sizes, from 31 mm to 38 mm, and two different casings, the lighter standard Tubeless (Gravel Lite TLR casing) or the Reinforced one (Gravel Enduro TNT casing). Combined with the Air-Liner Gravel inserts from Vittoria, riders had an extra layer of protection and reliability in a race where mobile service assistance was not allowed.

On top of all the World Tour road riders from Vittoria-sponsored teams, MTB specialists such as Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, and other gravel specialists like Nathan Haas, Nicholas Roche, Team Amani, and Team Wish One, took part in the event using different Terreno Dry options.

The 190km course saw the riders alongside the rivers Bacchiglione and Brenta on a combination of gravel, forest, bike paths, and asphalt road surfaces before riding around the spectacular walled city of Cittadella. Weather and terrain were dry, conditions suited perfectly for the Vittoria Terreno Dry. The Terreno Dry bridges the gap between file treads and traditional all-conditions treads. The key to this is the unique angled “fish scale” design that allows the center tread to roll extremely fast yet offers traction when loaded in cornering and braking. Add the transitional height mid and side tread, and the Terreno Dry transitions as smoothly as it rolls.

High-Tech Tread Design

File treads are the usual choice when looking for a dry gravel tire. A typical file tread has micro-diamond knurling in the center and knobs on the side. But what happens when you hit your brakes on a file tread? Nothing. The tire slides. It can be a battle where the tire rolls fast but does everything else horribly. That was the number one problem Vittoria aimed to solve when developing Terreno Dry.

The distinctive feature of the Terreno Dry is the fish-scale center, a series of hexagonal shapes that interlock and are angled slightly upward in the direction of rolling. When the tire rolls forward, it rolls up this ramp, feeling like you’re riding on a slick tire. As soon as you break, the force goes in the opposite direction of rolling, engaging hundreds of these effective micro-edges to provide you with the traction you need. If you run your finger in one direction on the Terreno Dry and then run it in the other direction, it feels like two different tires. Overall, it’s a tire that brakes well, climbs well, and, most importantly, rolls fast, as we saw during the weekend.

A Complete Gravel Tire Range for All-Terrain Conditions

Vittoria offers a wide range of gravel treads for all types of weather and terrain conditions. Terreno Zero, Terreno Dry, Terreno Mix, and Terreno Wet have been developed to match the needs of all gravel riders in all conditions.

Ken Avery, Vittoria Product Development, explains: “As the discipline of gravel cycling continues to evolve, so do the demands of tires for riders. As we’ve seen this weekend, the Vittoria Terreno line delivers a commanding performance while offering the flexibility of size, casing, and tread options to suit the ever-changing landscape of gravel terrain. Couple this with the added protection of the Air-Liner Gravel, and the possibilities of adventure are endless.”