Gravel racing is somewhat of a polarising topic. For every gravel rider that loves the combination of speed, endorphins and do-or-die attitudes, there are riders who aren’t interested one bit. But for anyone with even a passing interest in competitive gravel riding, the recent UCI Gravel World Championships was the highlight of the year. Emmie Collinge and Phil Gale sent in an incredible photo gallery from a very dusty and unseasonably hot Veneto region of Italy.

Pieve di Soligo in the Prosecco hills of north-east Italy hosted the second-ever UCI Gravel World Championships on 7–8 October. Putting together an event on the scale of a UCI world championships is never easy, but this year it was organised in just 28 days, which makes it miraculous that it happened at all. Both organiser and location were changed at the last minute when last year’s event team ran into financial difficulties. 

Overlooking the lack of TV coverage for the elite women’s race, the saddest, but perhaps most predictable news of the weekend, the event can be heralded as a success on many other levels.  The course in particular tested every single rider and their equipment and will certainly go down in history. 

There will be so many stories to tell from this race, with every rider facing their own challenges during their ride. Given that the course sat on the limit of what was possible on a super lightweight, aero-focused gravel bike, we’re curious to know whether the older age category racers enjoyed the steep climbs and technical descents as much as their younger counterparts. Having witnessed first-hand catastrophically wheels during the pre-race reccies and a bunch of snapped frames after the race, we’d struggle to put a price on the total cost of material destroyed during the competition. 

Although we’re metaphorically waving our fists at the clouds, these would be our pointers for the 2024 organisers:

• Ensure that the promise of full TV coverage of the 2024 event with parity given to the women’s and the men’s races is made good on.
• Please figure out a system at the finish whereby the winners of each age category can be celebrated as they cross the line. Focusing on only the elite racers at the finish overlooks the performance of other participants and diminishes the inclusiveness of gravel racing.
• Please ensure that roads remain closed until the last rider has finished. It was unfair and at times dangerous for the slower riders (mostly the age groupers) to have to deal with traffic as they nursed their tired bodies through the final kilometres of the race.