The UCI Gravel World Championships may have only just played out weeks ago, but already riders are lining up in rapidly-growing numbers to secure a spot for 2024, with the Beechworth Gravelista round of the qualifying series set to unfold in Australia on Saturday.
The Trek UCI Gravel World Series race sets off from the former gold-rush town in Victoria’s high country and is one of the first of 18 qualifying events for 2024 – with both the European Championships in Belgium at the start of October counting among these.
There are plenty of top finishers from 2022 returning along with a healthy dose of newcomers. The men’s start list includes Australian gravel champion Connor Sens, Alpecin Deceuninck’s Jensen Plowright and Jack Aitken – who came third last year.
In the women’s race Courtney Sherwell, who came third last year, is among the riders to watch as long as she is fully recovered from a crash on a reconnaissance ride a couple of weeks ago. Then there is also Cassia Boglio, who has proven gravel form after coming second behind Tiffany Cromwell in the SEVEN round of the Gravel World Series in Nannup earlier this year and also lined up the European and World Gravel Championships earlier this month.
Last year, riders in the Beechworth event had only around a month to arrange the long and expensive trip to Italy for the Worlds, but the shift from the early September date to October 28 has likely helped enhance the appeal for participants, a more manageable planning window for next year.
“We’re gearing up for an even bigger event this year, and are excited to welcome both new and returning visitors to Beechworth,” Indigo Shire Mayor, Sophie Price, commented to Cyclingnews. “There are exceptional riding opportunities surrounding Beechworth, perfectly suited to a UCI-level event.”
In the first of the stand-alone World Series events for 2024, more than 500 riders are expected to line up for the race, with the headline race taking place on a course replete with 85% unpaved roads, field-fragmenting climbs and serene vistas.
Taking on the 120km event, which delivers around 1,800 metres of elevation gain as it loops out from Beechworth toward the Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, are a mix of top riders from the road, cyclocross and mountain bike scene.
Other riders among those to watch include gravel newcomer Dan McConnell, with it clear that the mountain bike rider is carrying strong form into the event as he is fresh from victory at the Cape to Cape earlier this month. Then there is also Luke Cridland, who came fourth at the event last year and was also in the top ten at SEVEN earlier this year, along with Mark O’Brien, an ever powerful force on the domestic road scene who also came sixth at Gravelista last year. Chris Jongewaard, the winner of four Australian Cyclocross Championships, is also lining up along with podium regular Garry Millburn.
The 2022 men's winner Adam Blazevic won't be on the start list given his long European season, nor will women's winner Justine Barrow, with the Australian champion's season stymied by injury. However, Peta Mullens, who has swept up 12 Australian championships across the disciplines, will be on the start line again. Then there is the always fierce competitor Matilda Raynolds, who started the season with a stage win at the Bay Crits but had a tough run overseas between the late cancellation of her key road goal, the Lotto Belgium Tour, and then a bout of COVID on the lead into her US gravel stint.
The event in Beechworth is one of two 2024 qualifying rounds to be held in Australia, with the other being SEVEN on May 18, which is more than 3,000km away across the other side of the continent in Nannup, Western Australia. Both were quick to join the new series when it started in 2022, with SEVEN already well-established and Gravelista delivering a successful debut year.
“Last year's event brought in a considerable number of visitors, resulting in an impressive economic impact," said Mayor Price of Gravelista. "Across Beechworth, this translated to just under $600,000, with the broader local region benefiting from a total influx of $1.3 million.”
Beechworth will be the final round of the series run this year, with the qualifying rounds for the next Gravel World Championships getting underway once again on April 20, 2024 in Spain.
