Gravel has taken the world by storm over the past decade, and its continued growth is reflected in the 2026 Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series calendar. This season, riders across the globe have 47 opportunities – a record – to qualify for the 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships in Nannup, Australia, on 10-11 October.
Since 2018, the small town of Nannup in Western Australia has been home to The Seven, a staple of the UCI Gravel World Series. This October, it will take centre stage as competitors from around the world flock to contest the rainbow jerseys at the fifth edition of the UCI Gravel World Championships. The event will bring together riders who qualify at any one of this season’s events organised in 32 countries and on all continents.
The proven concept of the UCI Gravel World Series remains unchanged for 2026 as each race qualifies the top 25% of riders in every age group for the UCI Gravel World Championships. Amateur riders compete alongside professionals, reflecting the inclusive spirit at the heart of the gravel discipline.
Gearing up for new rainbow battles
This year’s racing is about to get under way in South Africa with The Ceder (14 February) in the rugged mountainous terrain of Nuwerust Farm, before moving to Spain for the second edition of the Castellón Gravel Race (22 February) in Llucena, which was inaugurated in spectacular fashion last year with victories for local heroes Alejandro Valverde and Sofía Rodríguez. From there, the 2026 calendar moves into full swing, with Gravel Brazil (Camboriu, 8 March), Turnhout Gravel in Belgium (22 March), and the 114 Gravel Race across Portugal (Elvas) and Spain (Badajoz) on 28 March…
These early 2026 opportunities come in the wake of the first four events held in late 2025, following the Bolero UCI Gravel World Championships in South Limburg (the Netherlands), where Florian Vermeersch, Lorena Wiebes and numerous other specialists claimed a total of 23 titles.
Among the rainbow jersey holders, the Netherlands’ Elisa Serné (Women 19–34) and Belgium’s Joyce Vanderbeken (Women 40–44) are already in a strong position to defend their titles in Australia, following impressive performances at Belgium’s Flanders Legacy Gravel, the first qualifier of the season (19 October). Vanderbeken finished second in her category, behind compatriot Kim Knaeps, who was runner-up in South Limburg’s 2025 Bolero UCI Gravel World Championships.
Three weeks later, Ireland’s Nicolas Roche, another UCI Gravel World Champion crowned in South Limburg, dominated the Men 40–44 category at Alentejo Gravel in Portugal (Ourique - 9 November), new to the series this season. In the meantime, spectacular action unfolded at Gravelista in Australia (26 October) and the Dustman in Thailand (1 November), another newcomer on the expanded calendar of the Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series.
New events complete a global schedule
No fewer than 16 new events join a schedule filled with exciting novelties and established fixtures. The end of March will see the first of seven new events to the calendar on the American continent when the Vuelta Altas Cumbres Gravel puts Argentina on the GravelKing UCI Gravel World Series map (Cura Brochero – Cordoba, 29 March). Further battles are scheduled in Colombia, with Gravel Bogotá (24 May) and Gravel Medellín (9 August), as well as in Chile with Gravel Chile (Valdivia, Los Rios, 6 September). New qualifiers will also take place in Mexico, with the Gravel Arteaga México (Arteaga, Coahuila, 30 August), and Canada, with the OG Classique (Wakefield, Québec, 21 June) and the Ghost of the Gravel (Water Valley, Alberta, 27 June).
New venues around the world, include the Dolomites with the addition of the Grand Tour 3 Cime Lavaredo (Italy, 20 June), which builds on the legacy of the 2023 UCI Gravel World Championships, where Poland’s Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Slovenia’s Matej Mohorič claimed the Elite UCI Gravel World Champion titles. Thousands of riders are ready to follow in their tyre tracks, experiencing a unique taste of freedom and chasing rainbow dreams.
After Around the Pot in Swellendam, South Africa (25 July), the next European newcomers to the calendar leading up to the UCI Gravel World Championships are: Gravel Tour Hlinsko in Czechia (1 August), Gravel Weekend in Tukums, Latvia (8 August), the Wolf in Dronninglund, Denmark (5 September), Falling Leaves in Lahti, Finland (12 September) and Tartu Rattamaraton in Ostepää,-Elva, Estonia, (19 September).
Full calendar of the 2026 Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series