Trek UCI Gravel World Series events announced
Trek UCI Gravel World Series events announced
On Friday the UCI announced locations and dates for their upcoming UCI sanctioned Gravel World Series. The 12 races will take place between April 3rd and September 18th in ten different countries. Each event will give riders the opportunity to qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships to take place on the white roads of Tuscany in October of 2022.
The American bike brand Trek has signed on as title sponsor for the series through 2024. According to a press release, Trek signed on with the series because of the “new experience for both competitive and leisure riders” that gravel bikes can provide.
As previously reported, the series will be managed by the Belgian company Golazo.
“I am thrilled that we now have an exciting and rich calendar of gravel events for riders with an adventurous spirit who enjoy cycling on unsealed roads and paths,” said UCI President David Lappartient. “The best among them will earn the right to compete in the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championships, the details of which will be released soon. The UCI Gran Fondo World Series is incredibly popular, and I am convinced that this concept will be equally successful for the gravel format.”
In September of 2021 the UCI announced their intentions of getting involved in the growing gravel racing scene by forming a series of races that would end with the first ever UCI Gravel World Championships. The top 25% of men and women from each age group at each of the 12 events will qualify to compete for rainbow jerseys in the different age categories in October.
Rules for the races will be pretty lax, at least for the first couple of years. “The UCI has chosen to not make the regulations too strict in the first years, allowing participants to compete on any type of bike without electrical assistance (gravel, cyclo-cross, mountain bike, road…),” the statement read. “This will be evaluated in the upcoming years.”
The Gravel World Series calendar:
Sunday, April 3: UCI Gravel Philippines – Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
Sunday, May 15: Seven – Nannup, Australia
Sunday, June 5: Wish One Gravel Race – Millau, France
Saturday, June 18: Gravel Adventure – Świeradów-Zdrój, Poland
Saturday, June 25: Highlands Gravel Classic – Fayetteville, USA
Saturday, August 6: Jingle GX Gravel Race – Amana, USA
Saturday, August 20: Gravel Grit n Grind – Halmstad, Sweden
Saturday, August 27: Houffa Gravel – Houffalize, Belgium
Saturday, September 3: La Monsterrato-Strade Bianche Monferrato – Quattordio, Italy
Sunday, September 4: Gravelista – Beechworth, Australia
Saturday, September 17: Gravel One Fifty – Netherlands
Sunday, September 18: Ranxo – Ponts, Spain