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The SEVEN gravel race in Nannup is no stranger to trying something new, it was after all one of the early gravel events on the Australian scene when it started in 2018 and now the race is reaping the rewards of another leap into the unknown.
Last year when close to 1000 riders lined up to taste the gravel gold of the small Western Australian town in the midst of a vast forest and a labyrinth of unpaved roads, few knew what the introduction of a UCI Gravel World Series would mean – although judging by how quick the Western Australian event was to get on board they clearly had an inkling.
Now in 2023 the race is heading toward its biggest field ever, with the strength of the May 13 event being bolstered by the introduction of high profile participants such as Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) and Nicolas Roche. It can also boast a returning defending champion, Adam Blazevic, who is now a regular among the top rows of the results tables at Gravel World Series races.
The series itself has also got bigger, with seven new events, and instead of being the second round as it was in 2022, Nannup is now the fifth of 16 races that will act as qualifiers for the 2023 UCI Gravel World Championships, and there is also another round late in October, which will open up the list of 2024 qualifiers.
The fields also seem to be growing across the series and the number of dedicated gravel teams are on the rise, with the Alejandro Valverde lead Movistar a key example.
“That’s going to continue to develop … and we feel like we’ve been part of that journey right from the start,” SEVEN race director Stephen Gallagher told Cyclingnews. “Being part of that new foray into gravel with the UCI series I hope that our growth continues along with the growth of the series.”
They seem to be on the right track to do just that, as not only has the event secured its place in the series for the coming years, but the news also came late last year that it is also locked in as the location of the UCI Gravel World Championships in 2026. That in itself is expected to draw more and more riders as the rainbow jersey gets close, but already the international spotlight is building intensity, with riders from across the globe set to line up in Nannup on Saturday and already four times as many international participants on the start list.
Readying for a gravel gold rush
Even well before race day, the gravel roads around Nannup have been teaming with hundreds of cyclists on the weekend, some training…
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