The championships just keep coming! After the brutally hilly showdown in Rwanda for the UCI Road World Championships at the end of September, and the UEC European Road Championships in France last weekend, the title chase continues this weekend in the Netherlands and on gravel.
Now in its fourth year, the UCI Gravel World Championships were originally scheduled for Nice, but the Riviera city relinquished hosting duties in April, citing “various constraints” and “technical reasons.” Instead, the event returns to the lowlands following last year’s Belgian edition, with the 2025 championships now set in the southern Netherlands.
The start list is packed with familiar names from the recent road battles. Stars like Tom Pidcock (Great Britain), Matej Mohorič (Slovenia), Marianne Vos (Netherlands), Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland), and Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) are all eyeing the rainbow stripes.
What makes these gravel worlds unique is that pros and amateurs compete side by side. Unlike traditional championships which are limited to separate junior, U23, and elite categories, the UCI Gravel Worlds are divided into Elite and Age Group classes. Amateur (and some elite) riders could qualify by finishing in the top 25% at one of the 33 events in this year’s UCI Gravel World Series.
The course is set, the competition promises to be fierce, and fans can follow it all live with both the men’s and women’s elite races streamed worldwide.
Here’s your guide to the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships.
The UCI Gravel World Championships at a glance
(Image credit: Thomas Maheux / SWPix)
Origins:
After the success and huge growth in unregulated gravel events across North American and Europe, the sport’s governing body, the UCI, decided it wanted a slice of the gravel pie as well. At the start of 2022, the UCI introduced the UCI Gravel World Series and announced the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championships, offering an official rainbow jersey for the first time.
Previous editions & winners:
The previous three editions of the UCI Gravel World Championships took place in Italy, and were won on road bikes. The move to Belgium brought with it some Flemish flare, complete with twisty road, cobblestones and punchy climbs. The Dutch course appears to be another Classics-inspired one.
Previous winners have all been familiar names from the road racing world, including Gianni Vermeersch and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (2022), Matej Mohoric and Kasia Niewiadoma (2023), and Mathieu van der Poel and Marianne Vos (2024)
When:
– Saturday, Oct. 11, 11 a.m. local time – women’s elite race
– Sunday, Oct, 12, 11:45 a.m. local time – men’s elite race
Start: Beek, The Netherlands
Finish: Maastricht, The Netherlands
Race distances:
Women’s: 131 kilometres with 1,190 metres of elevation
Men’s: 180kilometres with 1,650 metres of climbing.
The Course
(Image credit: Ride with GPS)
Much shorter, faster and less technical than what one might experience in American gravel, where the 200-mile (322 km) Unbound Gravel is considered the pinnacle of off-road racing, the UCI Gravel World Championships have, thus far, heavily favoured WorldTour riders. And the course in the Netherlands again looks tailor-made for Classics-style rouleurs.
The elite women open the 2025 Bolero UCI Gravel World Championships with a 131-kilometre battle through South Limburg’s rolling terrain, tackling 1,190 metres of climbing. Starting at Sportlandgoed De Haamen in Beek, the race quickly hits the region’s hallmark mix of gravel sectors, forest trails, country lanes, and short, punchy ascents.
Riders will complete two and a half laps of a 50 km circuit, looping counter-clockwise through Beek, Beekdaelen, Voerendaal, Meerssen and Valkenburg. The race finishes with a run into Maastricht on the fast, packed-gravel straight known as De Groene Loper (the “Green Carpet”). The new world champion will be crowned on the city’s Koningsplein (“King’s Square”) in Maastricht.
The course passes local landmarks such as Wijnandsrade Castle, Vaeshartelt Estate, and the Sint Hubertusmolen windmill. If the roads and landscapes look familiar, it’s because many have been used in the Amstel Gold Race.
The men’s elite field will take on the same circuit on Sunday, completing three and a half laps for a total of 180 kilometres and roughly 1,650 metres of elevation gain.
The age groups will contest the same circuit with distances varying between 81 kilometres and 180 kilometres.
The Contenders
(Image credit: Getty Images)
More than 270 men and 122 women will compete in the elite categories this weekend, including a host of WorldTour talent. Still so new, the Gravel World Championships remain as unpredictable as ever as road stars, cyclocross pros and retirees all line up with equal ambition.
Former gravel world champions Marianne Vos (Netherlands), Matej Mohorič (Slovenia), Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Poland) and Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium) are all back, hoping for another season in the rainbow stripes. But they’ll be facing seriously fierce competition.
The women’s field is absolutely stacked. The Dutch alone are bringing a contingent that could easily fill the top ten. Aside from Vos, the orange team includes, among others, young off-road superstar Puck Pieterse, sprint powerhouse Lorena Wiebes who’s already got 25 wins to her name this season, full-time gravel pro Geerike Schreurs, Amstel Gold Race winner Mischa Bredewold, cyclocrossers Yara Kastelijn and Shirin Van Anrooij, and Pauliena Rooijakkers.
The Dutch will surely be challenged by the likes of former Unbound winners Rosa Klöser and Carolin Schiff from Germany, three-time U.S. women’s gravel champion Lauren Stephens, Australian gravel champion Tiffany Cromwell, and, of course, Niewiadoma-Phinney (Poland).
On the men’s side, Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) has opted to not defend his jersey so we’ll be seeing a new winner. But who will it be? Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) is making his gravel debut in Limburg, and he can expect to be challenged by the likes of Mohorič (Slovenia), Tim Merlier (Belgium), Traka 200 winner Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark), Olympic gold medalist Greg van Avermaet (Belgium), and recently retired WorldTour rider Romain Bardet (France).
See the full list of contenders, here.
How to watch
(Image credit: SWPix / Thomas Maheux)
In North America:
FloBikes will be hosting the livestream for those in the U.S. and Canada, with coverage starting at 7:30 a.m. EDT. Subscription is required.
In Europe:
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) via Discovery+ and Eurosport is expected to carry live coverage of the UCI World Championships across European countries as part of its cycling broadcasting rights. Check local listings for exact times in your country.
YouTube / UCI global stream
The UCI YouTube channel will stream the elite races live, subject to geo-restrictions. In regions without a licensed broadcaster, the stream should be available worldwide. Highlights and full replays are expected to be posted after each event.
