UCI Gravel World Series - Crystal Anthony and Skyler Taylor win Highlands Gravel Classic

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Crystal Anthony and Skyler Taylor won the Highlands Gravel Classic, a UCI Gravel World Series event in Arkansas on Sunday.

Anthony, the 2023 winner, crossed the line after 3 hours, 59 minutes and 28 seconds to claim the women's race with 2024 winner Jenna Rinehart a close runner-up, only 10 seconds later. 

The duo were part of a lead group that included Laura King, who finished third, for the majority of the race. 

Anthony launched her attack with 13 miles to race, where a four-mile downhill section of pavement transitioned to a 12% gravel ascent of about a half a mile in length. Rinehart was able to react, but the pair dropped King, who finished 3:36 back.

In the men's race, Taylor outsprinted Tim McBirney for victory in a time of 3 hours, 29 minutes and 10 seconds after the pair had got away from what had been a group of four. Kyle Kalish was nearly two minutes back in third.

The first of two qualifying events in the United States, the 109km course delivered 90% gravel as it wound through the rural backcountry of the Ozarks, with canopy-covered gravel roads and constantly changing terrain. Riders faced over a dozen climbs, the longest stretching 4.7km. The highest point of the day came after 53 miles, along a sprawling ridgeline at 670 meters elevation, offering sweeping views of the rolling Ozark Mountains.

Highlands Gravel Classic has been part of the 2025 UCI Gravel World Series for three years, with the top 25% of elites and age group finishers qualifying for the UCI Gravel World Championships, to be held October 11-12 in the Zuid-Limburg region of The Netherlands. A second Gravel World Series event was added this year in the US, Mammoth TUFF in California which will take place September 13.