The popularity of gravel cycling is now at an all-time high and the news of a Gravel World Series starting in 2025 is the cherry on the cake. The series, supported by a group of leading cycling manufacturers and events’ organizers, is intended to give order and status to the rapidly developing field of off-road ultra-endurance racing.

The first season of Gravel World Series will have 10 events from North America, Europe and Australia, and will end with the World Championship event. Every race will have a combination of rough terrains, sand tracks, rocky desert, wet forest, and many more, which will cover between 100 and 200 kilometers, and will definitely challenge the endurance of the riders.

Series director Emma Rodriguez emphasized the inclusive nature of the new competition: ‘While of course we’ll have a professional category with a significant purse, the essence of this series is age group racing, We want to build a community of gravel racers from around the world and give them the opportunity to push themselves on some of the best courses available. ’

The news comes at a time when gravel racing is still on an exponential growth cycle with road cycling legends and mountain bikers on the rise. The discipline has required elements of enduranc e, technique, and adventure that has appealed to riders who are looking for other challenges apart from road or mountain bike races.

Most of the big bicycle and component manufacturers have endorsed the series given the chance to unveil their new gravel oriented products. Specialized, Trek and Cannondale have agreed to be the founding sponsors of the new race series, and have each pledged to support teams racing in the elite division.

It has also signed a broadcast agreement with a leading streaming platform so that each event will get live coverage – the first time for gravel racing at this level. More people are likely to come into contact with the discipline hence boosting the growth of off-road cycling discipline and the activity in general.

But the announcement has not been without controversy. While many gravel enthusiasts and racers have already suggested that a formalization of a World Series may take away from the grassroots and adventurous nature of the discipline up till this point.

Gravel racer Great Ted King also spoke about the changes in the format, but he also expressed certain concern On one hand, it’s great to witness that gravel racing has grown to this level of organization and visibility. However, we must remember not to forget about all the things that make this kind of racing unique – people around, the spirit of discovery, beers after the race with new acquaintances.

To counter these, the organisers have said that the World Series events will retain the fun and open spirit that defines gravel racing. Every race will have several distances and non-racing “fun” categories for those who are not very sporty or do not want to compete.

With the gravel racing growing more and more popular, the creation of the Gravel World Series is a major step in the development of gravel as a discipline. Whether it can achieve all these objectives and cater for both the professional and the enthusiasts, only time will tell but one thing is for sure, the off-road endurance cycling world is about to get more interesting.