The UCI has confirmed that the 2022 Gravel World Championships will be held in the Veneto region of Italy on October 8-9, bringing together riders qualifying through the 12 World Series events across ten nations. The 2023 Gravel World Championships will also be held in Italy with a final location still to be named.
The organisers of the L'Eroica event in Tuscany were considered the favourites to host the first ever official UCI Gravel World Championships as they celebrate the 25th edition of the L'Eroica. However World Championships are always awarded after a bidding process that includes significant rights fees and the UCI have now selected Veneto in the north-east of Italy.
"The two forthcoming editions of the event will take place in Italy, the first in the Veneto region in the north-east of the country on 8 and 9 October 2022, the second on 30 September and 1st October 2023 in a location to be confirmed," the UCI announced after the UCI Management Committee meeting.
"The host cities will be announced later. These will be the first UCI World Championships for gravel, a discipline that this year sees the introduction of the first edition of the UCI Gravel World Series."
Last year former pro rider Filippo Pozzato organised a pro-rider gravel race called Serenissima Gravel in the Veneto as part of a series of end of season events.
Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech) soloed to victory in the inaugural edition of the Serenissima Gravel in Piazzola sul Brenta, 42 seconds clear of Riccardo Minali (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) and Nathan Haas (Cofidis).
The UCI Gravel World Championships is a different event to 'Gravel Worlds', the event held in Nebraska, in the USA, which has a registered trademark for that name and will be held in August 20.
Click here to read our special Gravel Week feature on the difference between the two events.
Gravel Worlds vs Gravel World Championships - What's in a name?
To secure a place in the Gravel World Championships riders must finish in the top 25 percent of their gender and age group across any of the World Series races, three of which have already been run.
The first over the line for the men in the 85km race in Bongabon, Philippines was Riemon Lapaza and the woman was Melisa Jane Jaroda, while in Nannup, Western Australia Maria Madigan made it three in a row at Seven as Adam Blazevic beat Nathan Haas in the men's race. That latest round in Millau, France was won by Dutch riders Niki Terpstra and Tessa Neefjes.
There next race in the series if the Gravel Adventure in Poland on June 18 and then the racing heads to the US with the Highlands Gravel Classic on Jun 25 and Jingle GX Gravel Race August 6. After that there are five rounds through August and September in Europe across Sweden, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain plus one more in Australia, in Beechworth on September 4.
The mass participation event series are being run in partnership with Golazo, who also runs the Gran Fondo series, and Trek is the title sponsor through until 2024.
