The Tour de France stage winner is not quite sure what he is in for, but thinks he will have the legs to be at the front of the race for gravel’s first rainbow jersey.

The world championship crosses the countryside from Vicenza to Cittadella on a 190-km course that jolts from white stone roads to narrow dirt trails. Hitting those sectors at the front of the peloton will be key. Gravel worlds will be a lot like the spring classics, but rougher. It’s not very hilly—there are only 800 metres of climbing en route—so Magnus thinks that he and his fellow road pros can beat the specialists with sheer power.

Besides, Magnus was a mountain-biker. He can handle a bike on dirt. He raced cross-country World Cups as a junior and still loves to go off into the bush when he gets the chance.

“I have always liked riding off-road—gravel, but also mountain-bike, or cyclocross,” he says. “It is something that I did a lot as a young kid and in the years leading up to turning pro, but when I turned professional, the focus was on the road. Sometimes I miss it a bit. I really enjoy putting the fatter tires on the bike. I’ll often go gravel riding, but that is a really broad thing now. There are no clear boundaries to how technical it can get, and how close to road cycling.”

The first gravel world championships won’t be a long slog down straight farm roads.

Magnus has got a new bike for the race. He will ride a Cannondale EVO SE. Lachlan Morton will race for Australia on Sunday, while Magnus will be in his Danish shirt, but Lachlan has still been helping Magnus dial in his set up. On Sunday, Magnus will ride Vittoria Terreno Dry 35mm tires on Vision Metron 55 Tubeless wheels. He’s going for 3.447 bar pressure up front and 3.777 bar in the rear. He’s got FSA 53/36T chainrings with an 11-30 cassette to get the power down on the flat and spin up the short, steep climbs.

Magnus is a little worried that he’ll face an old challenge on Sunday: if he punctures, he will have to fix his own flat. There will be no follow cars carrying extra wheels at gravel worlds. Mostly, Magnus is hoping it won’t be a problem he has to fix. Vittorias are the toughest tires out there. On rocky trails, you do sometimes just get unlucky though. In training, Magnus can always take his time, but Lachlan has been showing him how to get rolling again fast after a puncture in a race. There will be no time to dawdle at the world championships.

On Sunday, many of the world’s top road pros will take to the start. Many of them have world-class mountain-bike experience. Magnus is one of them. To bring home the gravel cycling’s first ever rainbow jersey would be an awesome feat. Magnus is going to have fun too.

“I am sure I will have a good time there,” he says. “Racing gravel is something I have wanted to do since I joined the team. For sure, if I would end up with the rainbow jersey, I would 100 percent go to more events where I can wear it.”

Magnus Cort’s first gravel race won’t be his last.