The UCI Gravel World Series has come to an end for another year and the crowning glory of the UCI Gravel World Championships is about to unfold, but the playing field looks considerably different this year as the event enters its third edition.
The first time around no one knew what to expect from the series or the Championships – gravel after all was largely seen as a US discipline where the structure that comes with UCI racing was actively resisted. So back then the question seemed to be would a global series branching out from Europe spearheaded by an organisation that seemed to represent the antithesis of gravel even work?
It’s a question that three years in has been unequivocally answered, as while it may not be gravel in the same form as US devotees of the sport know it, this new incarnation has proven its pulling power. For a start, the number of events and participants in the qualifying World Series has ballooned, but that is just the opening gambit.
“It’s still growing but we are probably at the maximum we want to be, and then the focus has to be on improving the quality of the events and improving the concept,” said Vervecken.
A bigger US presence for UCI Gravel
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