Preview World Gravel Championship 2025 - men | Pidcock, strong Belgians and young, versatile Dutchmen
CyclingThursday, 09 October 2025 at 08:26
The last busy cycling weekend of 2025 will see the Tour of Lombardy, Paris-Tours, and... the World Gravel Championships in the Netherlands! On Sunday, we will see who will succeed Mathieu van der Poel—who will not be there himself—on the list of winners in Maastricht. IDLProCycling.com outlines the possible scenarios for you!
Due to the ever-increasing popularity of gravel cycling, the UCI decided to include a World Championship in 2022. In Citadella, Italy, Van der Poel washed away his Australian World Championship disappointment with a third place finish, behind teammate Gianni Vermeersch.
A year later, Veneto hosted the World Championships again, this time with Wout van Aert at the start. However, the Belgian encountered some bad luck and ultimately saw Matej Mohoric triumph far ahead of him. Last year, Van der Poel took the title in Leuven, Belgium, by dropping Florian Vermeersch and then riding solo to the finish.
Practical information World Gravel Championship 2025 - men
- Sunday, Oct. 12, Beek - Maastricht
- Participants
- Classification: World Championship
In this article
- Latest winners
- Parcous, weather and times
- Favorites
- TV information
Latest winners World Gravel Championship 2025 - men
2024 Mathieu van der Poel
2023 Matej Mohoric
2022 Gianni Vermeersch
2023 Matej Mohoric
2022 Gianni Vermeersch
World Gravel Championship 2025 - men: Course, weather and times
The start of the 2025 UCI World Gravel Championships will take place in De Haemen in Beek, near an athletics track. The riders will also pass here every lap. The first 5.5 kilometers, which are on wide, paved roads, include the Adsteeg, a 700-meter climb with an average gradient of 5% and a middle section of up to 8.5%.
We know this Adsteeg from the Amstel Gold Race, and it is expected to thin out the peloton quickly. In the subsequent laps, of which the men will do three and a half, the men will skip this first paved section and go straight onto the gravel. The route is characterized by its hilly nature, with a steep gravel climb at kilometer 12.5 of each lap, which is steep in the first half.
Another difficult section, the Diependaalsweg, appears after forty kilometers and contains sandy stretches towards the top. The most challenging climb of the day takes place on the final loop to Maastricht, where the Bronsdalweg, a 1-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 7.2% and a peak of over 8%, will be a decisive factor with only 14 kilometers to go to the finish on the Groene Loper.
In total, the women will cover 181 kilometers. They will start at 11:45 AM local time, and the first men are expected to arrive in Maastricht at 4:15 PM local time.
Weather
For now, it looks like we will have excellent weather conditions in South Limburg this weekend. The temperature is expected to fluctuate around 15 degrees Celsius, with little wind, but there is still a chance of precipitation.
For now, it looks like we will have excellent weather conditions in South Limburg this weekend. The temperature is expected to fluctuate around 15 degrees Celsius, with little wind, but there is still a chance of precipitation.
Times
Start: 11:45 AM local time (05:45 AM EDT)
Finish: 4:15 PM local time (10:15 AM EDT)
Start: 11:45 AM local time (05:45 AM EDT)
Finish: 4:15 PM local time (10:15 AM EDT)
Favorites World Gravel Championship 2025 - men
The Belgian riders stand out at the Gravel World Championships. Among others, we will see former world champion Gianni Vermeersch and his namesake, Florian, second in both 2023 and 2024, at the start, along with many other top riders.
Tim Wellens, for example, as well as top riders from cyclo-cross, such as Tim Merlier, Niels Vandeputte, Toon Aerts, Emiel Verstrynge, Timo Kielich, Laurens Sweeck, Quinten Hermans, and others. They will probably only cooperate to a limited extent, although we can expect that from the riders who ride under the guidance of the Roodhooft brothers.
If the situation calls for catching up with other riders, that could be an advantage. We are primarily thinking of two of the biggest names on the start list: Tom Pidcock and defending champion Matej Mohoric. The Brit is flying from the Tour of Lombardy to South Limburg for this world championship, while the Slovenian wants to end a less successful year on a high note.
From a Dutch perspective, we are particularly looking forward to seeing Tibor Del Grosso and Senna Remijn, two of the most versatile talents our country has to offer. In addition, specialists such as Mathijs Loman - first in the UCI ranking -, Jasper Ockeloen, Johnny Hoogerland, Dutch champion Frits Biesterbos, and former riders Niki Terpstra and Ramon Sinkeldam will be at the start.
Britain's Connor Swift has traditionally performed well at major gravel events. From the professional peloton, it remains to be seen how riders such as Fabio Christen (Switzerland) and Nils Politt (Germany) will fare on this circuit in South Limburg. Specialists such as Paul Voss (Germany) and Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark) will also be there, as will former pros Greg Van Avermaet, Romain Bardet, and Petr Vakoc.
Who are the favorites for the World Gravel Championship 2025 - men , according to IDLProCycling.com?
Top favorites: Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) and Florian Vermeersch (Belgium)
Outsiders: Matej Mohoric (Slovenia), Gianni Vermeersch, Tim Wellens (Belgium), Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark) and Tibor Del Grosso (Netherlands)
Long shots: Tim Merlier, Niels Vandeputte, Toon Aerts, Emiel Verstrynge, Timo Kielich, Quinten Hermans (Belgium), Senna Remijn (Netherlands), Connor Swift (Great Britain), Fabio Christen (Switzerland) and Nils Politt (Germany)
Outsiders: Matej Mohoric (Slovenia), Gianni Vermeersch, Tim Wellens (Belgium), Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark) and Tibor Del Grosso (Netherlands)
Long shots: Tim Merlier, Niels Vandeputte, Toon Aerts, Emiel Verstrynge, Timo Kielich, Quinten Hermans (Belgium), Senna Remijn (Netherlands), Connor Swift (Great Britain), Fabio Christen (Switzerland) and Nils Politt (Germany)
TV broadcast World Gravel Championship 2025 - men
Sporza will be providing live coverage of the World Gravel Championships this weekend. On Sunday, you can tune in to VRT 1 from 2:30 PM local time. The NOS will be broadcasting on NPO 1 and streaming on NOS.nl simultaneously. You can also watch coverage on Eurosport, via the main channel and/or HBO Max.
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Latest Comments
- 👍Bea08-10-2025
- 👌🏻Bea08-10-2025
- What the data doesn't show is how much of an effect drafting had for evenepoel. Pogacar went with del toro at 100km whilst Evenepoel was still in the bunch. Despite the bike changes he still had a lot of assistance getting back to the bunch. Pogacar then rode 60km solo whilst evenepoel rode with Healy/Skjelmose until going solo in thd last 10-15km. Thats ~20% less power / energy requirements for 45-50km. Apples and oranges...kevpt30-09-2025
- 👏👏Bea24-09-2025
- Agreed! As we all know now, Juan Ayuso will be on another team. But it was sweet to see him win the stages at La Vuelta. I do love the drama of cycling admittedly but its clear to see the talent of winners of stages in a Grand Tourryhw2814fq921-09-2025
- Pogacar has no competition he has won everything, I cant imagine even being him in that position!! Crazy. I am sure he has some back up plan for how he wants to spend his retirement years at age 30 onward. Does he like beer? Plenty of innovation in brewing. And you don't have to be super social. Chapeau/Cheers whatever you like Tadej you will do.ryhw2814fq921-09-2025
- Plus its confirmed that the Philadelphia Cycling Classic up the Manayunk Wall is back for 2026! hooray for thatryhw2814fq918-09-2025
- This is a dumb question but still why doesn't the UCI consider a grand tour in the USA in the future. We have the desolate/scary back roads in Pennsylvania and Virginia, just like in France with loads of rural land and hills. Plus the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and the Cascade/Olympic Mountains in Washington State. I'm sure it'll never happen but honestly people in PA/NJ/NY/VT/NH would love it. We are already sports fans, what is another sport to learn. I am forever optimistic about cycling in the US.ryhw2814fq918-09-2025
- Zonneveld makes some excellent points.The sponsorship model is broken and companies like Verizon who have multi billion dollar with a B ad budgets need to be involved again.
Brucegel17-09-2025 - Roger Vlaeminck says Mads is not a good rider? Where is the headline saying you don't even have to be a good rider to win the World Road Championship says Roger Vlaeminck, who never won it!!? Perhaps his aging mind needs to think about what the heck he's saying.packfiller7103-09-2025
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