It’s difficult to define the time and place where dirt roads gave birth to gravel racing as a distinct mode for riding and then racing. In 2025, what was easy to see was that the off-road, long-distance discipline had moved from being ‘alternative’ to a business.

The debate may never end about how to keep the ‘spirit of gravel’ at the heart of the sport, especially at the front of the pro races. Let’s face it, enthusiasm still thrives at the grassroots level but professional athletes are serious about earning a living on gravel.

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Simon Pellaud (Tudor Pro Cycling) pulled away from the leading group. It seemed like a move that was, if not destined to fail, at least unlikely to succeed. There was still so much of the tough 202.4-mile (320km) course in the Flint Hills of Kansas to be traversed, and every reason for the pursuers behind to be highly motivated.

But the pair worked together seamlessly – Pellaud even helping his break companion by pulling the chain lube out of his pocket and squirting it on his chain while riding along. Such was the strength of their effort that as the finish line loomed, they still had a gap of around five minutes on the nearest chasers, and it looked like the winner would be decided in a sprint.

Jones, however, decided to apply the pressure early. Pellaud had no response. The big New Zealander had gone from the Frenchman, who had his Life Time Grand Prix entry secured, and was fighting for his own wildcard entry into the series. In a space of 8 hours, 37 minutes and 9 seconds, Jones shot straight to the pinnacle of the gravel world with the Unbound win, and his wildcard berth.

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The significance of an Unbound 200 win alone made it an unforgettable moment from the 2025 season of gravel racing but it was the beginning, not the end, of the seismic shift Jones’ appearance on the scene would reap. In October, the Kiwi also claimed the overall title in the men’s Life Time Grand Prix Series. (SG)

UCI Gravel World Series win.

The breakthrough Frain had been so painstakingly close to so many times had materialised and even though it was already clear that in gravel the 33-year-old had found her fit this was the final piece of the puzzle. One win soon became two, with Sea Otter Europe added to the list and then the icing on the cake, and Frain secured top points in the UCI Gravel World Series. After taking the leap to the top step multiple times at the end of the 2025 there will be no shortage of eyes on Frain in 2026. (SG)

UCI Gravel World Championships held in the Netherlands was a showcase of talent for the home women’s team, as they retained the title with Lorena Wiebes crossing the line just ahead of 2024 winner Marianne Vos.

Of the 103 women racing for one rainbow jersey in the elite division, 22 of them were Dutch, almost one quarter of the entire field, and the next largest team came from Germany at half the size. Strength in numbers, yes, but in the final 15km of the 131km race, the picture of one united team working for national pride took on an alien script and went askew.

Dutch rider Shirin van Anrooij grabbed a 20-second solo lead after the decisive Bronsdalweg climb and looked set for victory. In the final 2km, compatriot Yara Kastelijn closed down the chase, which allowed Vos and Wiebes to sail by and battle for the victory, leaving Van Anrooij dazed and confused, and in fifth place.

“It’s a gravel race, so tactics look strange, but at the end, it’s also more or less individual [racing],” Laurens ten Dam, the Dutch women’s head coach, told Cyclingnews at the finish.

What these UCI championships demonstrated were indeed that individuals, not teams, raced for a gold medal. Unlike other UCI World competitions, nations do not have limited allocations for athletes. Instead it is up to the athletes to earn qualification by finishing in the top 25% of global events in the UCI Gravel World Series, as well as federation wildcards. The formula works for engaging thousands of amateurs across age divisions, but is still quirky for pro races. (JT)

Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost) and Rob Britton (Factor Bikes) with the Australian winner of the 2024 Unbound 200 looking like he had the upper hand as he rode into the darkness of the night solo. However, the tracking dot of Britton showed the Canadian was pulling back ground as the race worked beyond 17 hours. With under 10 miles to the line, Britton made the catch, virtually a sprint given the distance, and victory was his. It was clear that this achievement was more than a win.

As Britton told the Cyclingnews’ North American gravel specialist, Jackie Tyson, after the dust had settled on the event: “Bike racing, especially now, is so cutthroat and so serious. That’s fine. I’ve done that part of it for years. I’m just not really in search of that now. So what was it like for me [at Unbound XL]? It genuinely was fun. And obviously, at the end, winning is fun.”

Watching from afar was fun too. (SG)

Geerike Schreurs had launched into the world of gravel in 2024, a runner-up spot at both The Traka 360 and Unbound Gravel 200, there was no doubt that she was among one of the most closely-watched riders heading into those two key events.

Though the SD Worx-Protime rider looked ideally placed as the early stages of The Traka unfolded and she sat tucked in among a small lead group, there was one moment soon to come that would prove pivotal for both events. All of a sudden, she hit the deck hard. It was a fall that left her momentarily reeling but remounting with her right arm on the handlebars as she stretched out her left, feeling out what were the consequences of the fall.

The power remained in her legs and she rejoined the group but as the race progressed the pain she was enduring after she continued on through the kilometres was clear. After 10 hours and 274 kilometres of racing, around half of that post-crash, she opted for a change of path, no longer heading to the finish line but to the hospital instead. There she discovered the elbow was fractured, making it an injury that would hobble the Unbound preparation as well, although she still made it to the race and finished seventh.

The outcome wasn’t what she had been looking and if it may have been easy to look at the performance at those key races of the season purely from a results point of view, as placing a question mark over her place as one of the key favourites.

Gravel and women’s cycling are two realms where you can’t exactly count on extensive live coverage of races but with live streaming at The Traka and Unbound 200 we got to appreciate just what grit and determination the Dutch rider possessed to get as far as she did on the rough terrain. We also saw her potential to rule at both events should the run be less fraught. (SG)