UCI Gravel World Championships 2026 elite men LIVE - Florian Vermeersch attempts title defence in Western Australia

They are now on the first climb of the day, the Killarney climb. Pöstlberger, Young and Schulting have 2'09" now on the bunch. This could be very dangerous as all three leaders are very capable with Pöstlberger and Young both winners of World Series races this year.

130km to go

The leading trio have 1'40" on the peloton now as there's a couple of riders already struggling at the back of the pack.

Pöstlberger and Young went up against each other earlier in the year with the Austrian taking the win at The Gralloch in Gatehouse-of-Fleet and the Forest of Galloway up in Scotland.

Gravel starts

This is very typical racing to the European scene. They are absolutely flying. Usually in Europe the race goes out fast due to narrow tracks whereas in the US it tends to be a slower start due to the wide tracks, which we do have here, but the racing is rapid.

After briefly losing pictures we go back to the break and see that Pirotte is no longer in the break who have 58" on the peloton. Maybe a mechanical or just dropping back.

Pöstlberger and Young are joined Peter Schulting (Netherlands) and Jo Pirotte (Belgium).

A few more counter attacks coming out of the peloton trying to get ahead before the gravel even starts.

One of the Danish riders is trying to bridge but is struggling to get to the four leaders who have 46" on the peloton.

One of the Lithuanian riders tried to be involved but has already been distanced. Two riders from Lithuania racing today, they are Martynas Tomkus and Valdemar Volodko.

Attack

Lukas Pöstlberger (Austria)
Jenson Young (Great Britain)

Plus four others go clear early.

They have 9km of asphalt to begin before the gravel. The route is 85% gravel and hardly ever flat.

143.7km to go

Racing begins for the World Gravel Championships 2026 in Nannup, Western Australia as the sun makes a rare appearance at these championships.

The route is 143.7km but an absolutely brutal 3713 metres of elevation.

There are a few road riders at the race, it is not just Vermeersch. Stan Dewulf (Belgium), Connor Swift (Great Britain), Andreas Stokbro (Denmark), Anton Stensby (Norway), Cameron Scott (Australia) and Ole Theiler (Germany).

Around 15 minutes until the race gets underway.

There's also former mountain bike world champion Henrique Avancini (Brazil) riding. He has had a superb road season winning the GC at the Tour of the Gila as well as finishing in the top 10 at the Tour du Rwanda. He also won the Brazil gravel and has looked strong on the tracks. One to watch.

The gravel specialists will be hoping they can take the win this time, though. The likes of Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark), Jenson Young (Great Britain), Daan Soete (Belgium), Matthew Beers (South Africa), Keegan Swenson (USA) and others will all hope to better the 'roadies' today.

Much like in the women's side of the sport, the worlds have been dominated by road riders with Vermeersch being the current holder of the rainbow bands after Gianni Vermeersch, Matej Mohoric and Mathieu van der Poel.

Unfortunately, after travelling to Australia for the race Czech rider Petr Vakoč has had to pull out of the race due to illness. He is one of eight riders down as a DNS so far today.

It was extremely muddy yesterday for the women but it did help on the unique pea gravel that is on most of the course here. When dry it is like riding on ice. Very slippery and unpredictable. When wet it compacts down and is far more manageable.

First things first, let's relive the action from yesterday and that absolutely brutal women's race won by the great Marianne Vos. Her 15th world title across four disciplines won with one of the most impressive rides from the Dutch star in some time...

>>> Gravel World Championships: Marianne Vos solos to another rainbow jersey after Rosa Klöser crashes in finale of elite women's race

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live updates of the men's elite UCI Gravel World Championships 2026 from Nannup in Western Australia.

An update from our Australia Editor Simone Giuliani on the ground in Nannup:

In Nannup there have been a few short sprinkles of rain this morning, but the sun is now making an appearance and with very little rain in the forecast and a top temperature of around 16°C it looks like we will have a far drier race for the elite men than the elite women faced yesterday. Though there is bound to still be mud out on course.