Originally Posted by
unterhausen
makes me wonder if a bike like the cutthroat would win since it could use the same tires as the mtb. The interesting comparison would be between the Canyon, a cutthroat with a suspension fork or a cutthroat with a rigid fork. My guess is that the cutthroat with either fork would be fastest.
Taking this a step further, I think a dropbar converted lightweight, low travel FS cross country 29er like the Santa Cruz Blur or Scott Spark with semi-slick 2.1 tires could be an excellent gravel race bike for certain courses. Such a build would be overkill for dirt farm road type stuff but excellent for more adventurous races. I've never seen such a build in person, but it would be cool to see.
I've done gravel races with other guys on flat bar hardtail 29er XC race bike and those things can easily keep up with drop bar gravel race bikes on relatively smooth stuff if the rider is strong.