Josh Weinberg
Thomas Euler is a gravel fanatic. Besides writing about gravel on Escape Collective, he has his own “gravel-coded” The Gravel Stack Substack. He also hosts the Gracing podcast, where he (p)reviews gravel races, often with the top pros who competed.
The All Gravel Awards honor the riders, teams, and events that shaped the 2025 gravel season. Our expert panel has handed in their nominations and votes for the nine awards, from Most Valuable Rider to Best Race Coverage. Now it is up to you, the gravel heads, to cast your votes.
Most sports have their awards. After all, picking the MVP, Rookie of the Year, or Coach of the Year is fun. Hence, we figured we’d give gravel its own awards as well. The All Gravel Awards go into their second edition and are up for grabs now. Your vote helps to decide who will end up winning them.
Below, you will be able to cast your vote on all of our nine awards. But first, let me give you a quick overview of how the awards work. In case you followed my four-part ballot frenzy over on The Gravel Stack and are already familiar with it (or couldn’t care less about such minutiae), just jump to the next section.
All Gravel Awards 101The Idea
We launched the awards in 2024, initially simply called “Gravel Post-Season Awards,” to honor the riders, events, and teams that shaped the gravel season and to have some fun in the process. It began as a podcast – with Gravel Hall of Famer Amanda Nauman Sheek, German gravel national champ Paul Voss, and myself – followed by a fan vote on Instagram.
This year, we wanted to bring more gravel expertise and a more diverse set of informed opinions to the table. Thus, we assembled 12 knowledgeable people from the gravel world and asked them to make nominations and vote on the awards. We call this the Expert Panel. I’ll explain how it works in a second.
The goal is simple: we want to make sure the All Gravel Awards go to the right people and organizations. While the awards are supposed to be joyful and celebratory, we also want them to be as “right” as possible.
We also defined that the awards are series-agnostic and consider the entire global gravel racing scene. Gravel has developed into a global affair and, thus, any awards that aspire to be meaningful need to reflect that. While it makes the process harder, it also makes it more fun.
Lastly, the awards direly needed a proper name. Their new one – which may or may not have been inspired by my NBA fandom – reflects their scope: the All Gravel Awards. (My spellchecker urges me to introduce a hyphen and make it the All-Gravel Awards; let me know in the comments whether I should give in.)
The Expert Panel
The Expert Panel comprises 11 individuals whom we carefully assembled to ensure a good mix of
men and womenrepresentation from the American and European scenesmedia members and content creators, former and current riders, and trusted voices in the community
Its members are:
Amanda Nauman Sheek (Insta), Gravel Hall of Famer and host of the Groadio podcast Andrew Vontz (Insta), host of the Choose the Hard Way podcastChris Mehlman (Insta), pro gravel racer and writer Danni Shrosbree (Insta), pro gravel racer and host of the Bonk Babes podcastHoly Spirit of Gravel (Insta), gravel meme account admin and host of the HSOG podcastJoe Laverick (Insta), pro gravel racer and writerJohn “Stable Cyclist” Peter, gravel filmmaker and host of The Stable Cyclist podcastLaura King (Insta), pro gravel racer and host of the Gravel Kings podcastMaya Noriega (Insta), gravel racer and media personalityPaul Voss (Insta), pro gravel racer and host of the Autsaid podcastThomas Euler (Insta), that would be meThe Voting Process
The winner for each award will be decided in a 2-step process.
1. Expert Panel Votes
The Expert Panel nominates riders, events, and teams. Each nomination also counts as 1 vote for the respective nominee.
All nominees form the Shortlist, which doubles as the ballot for the Fan Vote.
2. Fan Vote
That’s the stage we’re at now. All gravel fans can cast their votes in the polls below.
The Fan Vote complements the Expert Panel Votes. The Fan Vote is handled as follows:
Fan Vote Winner: Receives 2 Fan Base Votes.50% or more of Fan Votes: Receives 2 additional votes (4 votes total).75% or more of Fan Votes: Receives 3 additional votes (5 votes total).100% of Fan Votes: Receives 4 additional votes (6 votes total).
The goal is to strike a balance between the Expert Panel Votes and the Fan Votes.
Ties and Tiebreaker
If there are ties after the Fan Vote, the rider who received the most votes from the Expert Panel wins. If the Expert Panel was tied, the rider who received the most Fan Votes wins. On the off-chance that the Fan Vote is tied, we will do an additional Expert Panel voting round.
TimelineThe Fan Vote Period ends on December 10 at 10:59 pm CETWinners will be announced over the course of December 2025
With all that out of the way, let’s get to the interesting part.
Nominations and Fan Vote
It’s time to find out who earned the nominations from our experts and for you to cast your vote.
In case you’re wondering, we are only releasing the nominations for now, not the number of votes each nominated rider received.
Most Valuable Rider (MVP)
The MVP award rewards the best overall male and female riders of the 2025 gravel season. As “most valuable” is multi-dimensional, consider the following criteria: results, audience draw/star appeal, value for sponsors, and impact on the rider’s team (if applicable).
MVP – MenCameron “Cam” JonesLachlan MortonMatthew “Matt” BeersSimon PellaudKeegan SwensonMVP – WomenSofia Gómez VillafañeKarolina MigońRuth Holcomb Rosa KlöserMost Improved Rider (MIR)
MIR rewards a rider whose performance has significantly improved compared to last season.
MIR – MenCameron “Cam” Jones Torbjørn Andre RøedAndrew L’EsperanceBradyn LangeTobias Mørch KongstadMathijs LomanMIR – WomenAxelle Dubau-PrévôtCecily DeckerMelisa Rollins Cécile LejeuneGeerike SchreursMorgan AguirreCourtney SherwellKarolina MigońMost Exciting Newcomer (MEN)
The MEN award aims to reward riders who are new to gravel racing and whose racing, performances, and contributions to the scene were very exciting.
MEN – MenMads Würtz SchmidtGriffin HoppinSimon PellaudJan StöckliMagnus Bak KlarisMEN – WomenCécile LejeuneSarah LangeRuth HolcombAnnika LangvadLarissa HartogMost Impressive Performance (MIP)
The MIP award rewards an outstanding individual performance by a rider in a race or stage of a race.
MIP – MenRob Britton at Unbound XLTobias Mørch Kongstad at Traka 360Cameron Jones at Unbound 200Matthew “Matt” Beers at Big SugarJohn Gaston at Leadville 100MIP – WomenAxelle Dubau-Prévôt at Gravel BurnKarolina Migoń at Unbound 200Haley Batten at Sea Otter Morgan Aguirre at The HillsCecily Decker at UnboundSofía Gómez Villafañe at Big SugarMost Interesting Setup (MIS)
MIS is the award for the tinkerers. It rewards the most interesting ideas, and alternative approaches to bike and equipment setup.
MIS – Men
Unbound 2025 bike check: Lachlan Morton’s Cannondale Topstone
A close look at the bike that’s ready to take on the 350-mile self-supported Unbound XL endurance race.
Nils Correvon at The Rift
MIS – WomenHaley Hunter Smith at Migration Gravel
Kate Courtney at Leadville 100
Hannah Shell at Unbound 200
Cecily Decker at Lauf Gravel Worlds
Lael Wilcox at Transcontinental
Karolina Migoń at The Traka 360
Best Gravel Team (BGraT)
BGraT is the award for the best teams in gravel racing. Besides results, other criteria to consider are innovation, presentation, and successful cooperation of teammates.
BGraT – MenPAS RacingTrek DRFTLSShtSQDClassified x RoseRose Racing CircleBGraT – WomenPAS RacingLuise Valentin and Lucy Hempstead for waiting with Klara Sofie Skovgaard Hansen at UnboundRose Racing CircleGravel Race of the Year (RotY)
The RotY award should reward the best, most interesting, and most entertaining race of the season.
Gravel BurnUnboundLauf Gravel WorldsThe Traka UCI Gravel World Series Eislek LuxembourgBest Gravel Race Coverage (GRC)
The award should reward the best media coverage of a gravel race. The total content package of the race should be considered. Any form of coverage is eligible, including live streams, Instagram coverage, or post-race highlight videos.
Core4Lauf Gravel Worlds Unbound The Traka Migration GravelGravel BurnBest Gravel Live Coverage (GLC)
The award should reward the best live coverage of a gravel race. Any live broadcast (stream, TV, or other) of a gravel race is eligible. Criteria to consider include the overall production value, the quality of the commentary, the ability to follow the race action, and the entertainment factor.
Lauf Gravel Worlds Unbound 200UCI Gravel World ChampionshipsThe Traka 360
Vote below!
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