It has been one month because the UCI made a shock announcement that the 2025 Gravel World Championships would want a brand new house, and most certainly a brand new October date as nicely, leaving a gapping gap within the calendar simply eight months earlier than the fourth version of the occasion.
The Metropolis of Good withdrew because the host venue, citing “difficulties of organising the occasion within the capital of the French Riviera on that date [October 18-19]”.Â
Within the weeks which have adopted, rumours have swirled about attainable areas, together with international locations throughout three continents – Africa, Europe and the US. The UCI had famous in a media assertion on February 25 that they have been “presently finding out numerous choices to discover a new organiser and a brand new venue”.Â
One of many extra severe contenders appears to be the state of Carinthia, Austria, which is the realm the place Wörthersee Gravel Race will likely be held for a second yr on the UCI Gravel World Sequence calendar. Italian gravel champion Giada Borghesi earned the victory for elite girls final yr whereas Austrian Sebastian Schönberger received the elite males’s division.
“Sure, we utilized for the UCI Gravel World Championships 2025 and are ready for the UCI to take the subsequent steps,” Julius Ruptisch, race director for Wörthersee Gravel Race, advised Cyclingnews Thursday. He’s additionally the overall supervisor for Pedal Efficiency Group, which organises the Austrian gravel race.
“The governor of Carinthia invited the UCI representatives to go to the vacation spot, and all the federal government and all affected vacationer locations financially help the race. We’re greater than prepared!”
Final yr, Wörthersee Gravel Race offered out in two months and this yr’s race on April 6 organisers count on greater than 1,400 riders throughout a number of divisions.Â
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Carinthia is positioned within the south of the Alps and borders Italy and Slovenia. The climate in October “must be excellent”, in keeping with Ruptisch, with temperate circumstances within the Wörthersee lake space famous for huge vineyards.Â
“Sure, we’re skilled in dealing with occasions the scale of the UCI Gravel World Championship, have a dependable provide chain and a really skilled and devoted group,” Ruptisch advised Cyclingnews, hopeful about their bid for the Gravel World Championships to be authorized quickly.
“The group members and suppliers have identified one another for years, which can assure a easy organisation on this brief time, in case we’re awarded. We’ve proposed programs to the UCI, and all mayors alongside the programs signed help declarations, which we despatched to the UCI along with the appliance.”
The inaugural version of Wörthersee Gravel Race final yr offered out in two months and expects greater than 1,400 contributors in simply two weeks time. Final yr’s course, put collectively by Johnny Hoogerland, ran over 144km and delivered 1,680 metres of altitude achieve for the elite riders. Organisers stated a brand new course can be used for 2025.
There have been stories that the South Limburg area of the Netherlands had been chosen as the brand new host to interchange Good, with CycloWorld posting a screenshot from a Gravel Championships 2025 Instagram account that learn “Official Shimano 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships account” with the dates of October 4-5 for the race beginning in Valkenburg. The identical Instagram account in the present day seems as simply Gravel Championships, with posts and reels from the previous three occasions, and doesn’t listing a date or web site for the 2025 occasion.
