UCI confirms 12-race Gravel World Series calendar
Only one qualifier is in the US, while the location and date for UCI Gravel Worlds is still not announced.
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The Union Cycliste Internationale today announced the Trek UCI Gravel World Series, a mass-participant collection of 12 events that give riders a chance to qualify for the first UCI Gravel World Championships. The UCI still has not announced a date or a location for gravel worlds.
Back in February, a list of the Trek UCI Gravel World Series events was leaked. That list contained 14 events.
One of the events, Jingle Gravel, has posted on its website that the UCI Gravel World Championships will be held in Tuscany, Italy in September. VeloNews asked the UCI to confirm this but did not receive a response.
The UCI said that Trek Bikes signed on as the title sponsor of the series through 2024.
While the Gravel World Series is obviously quite different from the professional WorldTour series of races, the UCI does have experience overseeing mass-participant events with the UCI Gran Fondo World Series, where riders can also qualify for the gran fondo worlds.
For the Gravel World Series, the top 25 percent of men and women from each age group will qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships, which will award UCI world champion titles for each age group.
One key difference between the UCI Gran Fondo World Series and the UCI Gravel World Series is that pros will be allowed to race the gravel events.
It remains to be seen which pros will do the gravel worlds, as many have told VeloNews that they already have commitments to a full calendar of races this year.
Bike rules will be similarly relaxed, as anything type of bike but an e-bike will be allowed.
There are two races in the U.S., two in Australia, one in the Philippines, and the rest in Europe.
“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,” UCI president David Lappartient said in a press release. “The UCI Gran Fondo World Series is incredibly popular, and I am convinced that this concept will be equally successful for the gravel format.”
2022 Trek UCI Gravel World Series
April 3: UCI Gravel Philippines, Bongabon, Nueva Ecija (PHI)
May 15: Seven, Nannup (AUS)
June 5: Wish One Gravel Race, Millau (FRA)
June 19: Gravel Adventure, Swieradow-Zdroj (POL)
June 25: Highlands Gravel Classic, Fayetteville (USA)
August 6: Jingle GX Gravel Race, Amana (USA)
August 20: Gravel Grit n Grind, Halmstad (SWE)
August 27: Houffa Gravel, Houffalize (BEL)
September 3: La Monsterrato-Strade Bianche Monferrato, Quattordio (ITA)
September 4: Gravelista, Beechworth (AUS)
September 17: Gravel One Fifty, Veenhuizen (NED)
September 18: Ranxo, Ponts (ESP)