In 2022 the UCI launched the Gravel World Championships, along with a group of global qualifying races lined up in the Trek UCI Gravel World Series.
The creation of an officially-sanctioned gravel series, and world championships, added a 10th discipline to the international federation's events. Gravel joins road, mountain bike, track, cyclo-cross, BMX, BMX freestyle, trials, indoor cycling, and e-sport on the list of sanctioned disciplines.
This season, the UCI Gravel World Series added seven new events for a total of 17 stops. The majority of gravel events in the series, between April and September, will count as World Championships qualifiers for the 2023 competition for rainbow stripes, scheduled to return to Veneto, Italy from October 7-8, 2023. One Australian event in October will count towards qualification at Worlds in 2024, which will take place in Belgium.
It is the second year for both the Gravel World Series and the Gravel World Championships. Organisers have promised the second edition of the World Championships will offer “more challenging courses”, as the inaugural route was a city-based circuit without an abundance of climbing.
Last October at the UCI Gravel World Championships, Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium) soloed to victory to claim the first elite men's title while Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France) captured a sprint victory for the elite women’s title.
UCI Gravel World Series 2023
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 23 | La Indomable in Berja, Spain |
| April 29 | Swartberg100 in Prince Albert, South Africa |
| April 30 | Gravel Fondo Limburg in Valkenburg, Netherlands |
| May 6 | Gravel Challenge Blaavands Huk in Blavands, Denmark |
| May 13 | Seven in Nannup, Western Australia, Australia |
| May 13 | 3RIDES Gravel Race in Aachen, Germany |
| May 20 | The Gralloch in Gatehouse of Fleet (Scotland), Great Britain |
| June 4 | Hutchinson Ranxo Gravel in Ponts, Spain |
| June 11 | Blue Mountains Gravel Fondo in Thornbury, Ontario, Canada |
| June 18 | Wish One Millau Grands Causses in Millau, France |
| June 24 | Highlands Gravel Classic in Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA |
| July 15 | Gravel One Fifty in Veenhuizen, Netherlands |
| July 22 | Gravel Adventure in Świeradów-Zdrój, Poland |
| August 19 | Gravel Grit 'n Grind in Halmstad, Sweden |
| August 26 | Houffa Gravel in Houffalize, Belgium |
| September 2 | La Monsterrato in Quattordio, Italy |
| October 7 | UCI Gravel World Championships in Veneto, Italy |
| October 28* | Gravelista in Beechworth, Victoria, Australia (serves as qualifier for 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships) |
