Major Gravel World Championship problem reveals discipline is, literally, a loose mess: 'It that misses the point entirely'
Gravel
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Follow us on GoogleThe Gravel World Championships were held in Australia on Sunday. The first World Championships held outside Europe sparked—just like all previous editions—quite a bit of debate. This time, however, the discussion wasn’t about the course (which experts considered “real” gravel), but rather about its placement on the calendar and the world map. Is the Gravel World Championships still a loose concept?
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Some pros not willing to make the trip Down Under
Nannup is located three hours south of Perth, in southwestern Australia. It’s an expensive trip, which was the deciding factor for many gravel riders not to make the trip. Dutch champion Rick Ottema, for example, decided not to go, also considering that the course—with 3,000 meters of elevation gain—wouldn’t be a perfect fit for him.
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While the gravel circuit has consistently been “shaken up” in recent years by WorldTour riders such as Gianni Vermeersch, Matej Mohorič, Mathieu van der Poel, and Florian Vermeersch, only three WorldTour pros participated this year due to the long distance: Vermeersch (UAE) defended his title, and Stan Dewulf (Decathlon) and Connor Swift (Netcompany INEOS) also made the trip.
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Vermeersch and Dewulf in Nannup.
American pros not happy about the Gravel World Championships
So the “problem” with the WorldTour pros resolved itself, but once again, the full-time gravel pros—particularly those from the United States—clashed with the UCI’s agenda.
This has everything to do with the Life Time Grand Prix: the most important, prestigious, and, in terms of prize money, significant points series in America. The penultimate race, Little Sugar, was scheduled for the same day as the Gravel World Championships.
These two philosophies are diametrically opposed. On the one hand, there’s the American model, arguably the cradle of gravel’s current popularity. It’s all about self-supported, long races on real gravel, followed by plenty of camaraderie.
Consequently, they view the UCI Gravel World Series with suspicion, believing that pros simply “pop in” to sweep the prizes.
Many of the well-known gravel racers from the U.S. were therefore faced with a choice: the World Championships or Little Sugar. Keegan Swenson (USA) and Sofia Gomez Villafane (Argentina) hold a comfortable lead in the Life Time Grand Prix standings and could afford to travel to Australia for the World Championships, but behind them, many had to secure their spots in the top 10. That way, they could grab their share of the $250,000 prize pool.
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Swenson (right) was able to travel to Australia because of his lead.
Australian gravel icon skipped home World Championships
And so criticism flew back and forth, which is perhaps best illustrated by the example of Australia’s most famous gravel racer: Brendan Johnston. Of course, he would have loved to compete in his home country, but at the same time, traveling to Nannup would have been a major mistake on his part.
"It is with sincere regret that I must announce that I will not be competing in the World Championships in Nannup. "Nannup is a race and a place that I love dearly, and from the moment it was announced as the host city for the championships, I absolutely wanted to be there," Johnston said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, the race coincides with Little Sugar—the penultimate round of the Lifetime Grand Prix. Right now, I’m tied for second place in the Lifetime Grand Prix overall standings, the highest position I’ve ever achieved in this series. Since my decision to become a full-time professional cyclist, the LTGP has been essential to making that career possible, and climbing as high as possible in the overall standings has been one of my biggest goals from the very beginning.”
"I really would have preferred it if these two matches hadn't been scheduled for the same day," he sighs.
"To organise the Nannup event properly, I would have had to arrange my own support as well. The only confirmation I received from the association was that no one would be on site in Nannup, so there was no support available. To give myself the best chance at a good result, I would have needed support from our own team, which would have made an already difficult match even harder.”
"So, as disappointing as it is, we've decided to stay here and ride Little Sugar. A lot has been said about the fact that I'm 'chasing money' with this decision. To me, that misses the point entirely. This is about my career and the goals I set for myself when I embarked on my professional gravel adventure a few years ago.”
"I've never been in this position before in the LTGP, and I owe it to myself, my team, and everyone who has supported this journey to give it everything I've got," said Johnston, thereby reigniting the five-year-old debate over the status of the Gravel World Championship.
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That debate looks likely to stick around for a while, because even in Europe, cycling federations and unions still aren’t quite sure what to make of the discipline.
Funding from organisations such as the KNWU and Belgian Cycling is being directed toward other disciplines. And so it seems that gravel—as a non-Olympic discipline—might just be headed for the same fate as cyclocross has faced in recent years?
Magnus Bak Klaris won't lose a single minute of sleep over it on Sunday—that's for sure.
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Tom van der Salm (27) comes from the charming town of Zeilberg (Deurne) in the Netherlands and has been working as editor-in-chief & journalist at IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, In de Leiderstrui, since 2019. He travels with the peloton from the Tour de France to the AlUla Tour and from the World Championships in Rwanda or Canada to the Zilvermeercross in Mol. In his spare time he enjoys playing football, mountain biking, running, walking with his Labrador/Stabyhoun, investing, holidays, (specialty) beers, reading, cooking and watching sports & documentaries!
Contact: [email protected]
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Latest Comments
- I’m still learning the race: why is it called the “Koers van de Vallende Bladeren”? Is that another name for Lombardy because it’s held in autumn?breakawaybikerd12-10-2026
- Brilliant result, but the coverage is already crowning him the next king after one big win. Let’s see how he handles a full season of expectations first.lindae12-10-2026
- The Civiglio move sounds a bit reckless, but clearly he trusted his legs and his plan. That confidence is exciting—though the team will need to help him manage all the hype now.gearguru3312-10-2026
- I’m still learning the race: why is it called the “Koers van de Vallende Bladeren”? Is that another name for Lombardy because it’s held in autumn?Huge ride from Seixas. Winning a Monument at 20 is remarkable, and dropping Ciccone and Pidcock on the final climb makes it more than just a case of Pogacar being absent.velodromevirtuoso112-10-2026
- Brilliant result, but the coverage is already crowning him the next king after one big win. Let’s see how he handles a full season of expectations first.patriciaw12-10-2026
- The Civiglio move sounds a bit reckless, but clearly he trusted his legs and his plan. That confidence is exciting—though the team will need to help him manage all the hype now.davidm12-10-2026
- Huge ride from Seixas. Winning a Monument at 20 is remarkable, and dropping Ciccone and Pidcock on the final climb makes it more than just a case of Pogacar being absent.sprocketspiny12-10-2026
- What a year for Del Toro. Future Grand Tour winner, surely.patriciaw11-10-2026
- Why did UAE make him team leader if they already knew the knee was bothering him? Seems like a strange decision.lindae11-10-2026
- Seixas really blew the race apart on the Civiglio. Del Toro’s 28th looks poor on paper, but context matters here. One bad day doesn’t erase the season he’s had.cyclechamp4511-10-2026
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