Twenty-four hours after his victory at Il Lombardia, Tadei Pogacar watched Gianni Vermeersch and Daniel Oss battle for the first gravel world champion title on Sunday.

"I certainly wanted to compete in the gravel world championships," Pogacar told Cycling News. 'Gravel racing is fairly new, especially in Europe, and it's the first world championship.' In the future, I want to race for the gravel rainbow jersey."

Pogacar crossed northern Italy from Lombardy to Veneto to see the Gravel World Championships. He signed dozens of autographs and took hundreds of selfies in the VIP treatment area before seeing Vermeer win in the heart of the medieval walled town of Cittadella.

"As a fan of the sport, I came here to watch the Gravel World Championships.

"I wanted to be at the start and be there, but I also enjoyed watching the racers race at the finish. I don't get to do that very often, so it was a great opportunity. It will be interesting to see how gravel racing develops in the future."

Pogacar leads a new generation of riders who are shaking up professional cycling. They are more aggressive, multi-talented, and have little interest in old traditions. They just enjoy bike racing.

Pogacar admits he doesn't have much experience in gravel riding, but his dominant solo victory at this year's Strade Bianche shows he can be just as competitive in gravel as he is in classics and grand tours.

"If you can win in different disciplines, why not mix things up in your career," he argued.

"There are some great riders now competing in different races. We have a new gravel world champion, Gianni Fermersch, and he is a talented cyclocross rider who also races on the road.

"Mathieu Van der Pol has probably done it better than anyone else, and so have others. Look at Peter Sagan, Wout van Aert, and Tom Pidcock. They are better at everything, often the best.

"I don't have much gravel experience yet. But I like mountain biking, I like cyclocross, and I don't think gravel is that far removed from road racing. I want to try it soon. Maybe next year I can afford to participate in a gravel race.