Some nations, such as Australia, have been crowning a champion for a number of years while others are newcomers to officially recognising the top gravel competitors from amongst their compatriots. Ireland and France are new additions this year but even the United States, with its rich gravel history, only just joined the fray in 2023, while that was also the year the European Championships was launched.
The distinctive national jerseys that we are so used to seeing in road, mountain-bike and cyclocross racing are becoming an ever more present sight in gravel, which is building beyond the more grassroots approach that has long been the hallmark of the discipline.
Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.
