2026-10-11T05:26:48.439Z
The chase it really on behind the leaders now with 1’05” between them.
(Image credit: SWPix)
2026-10-11T05:24:21.994Z
Young still about 15″ ahead of the chasers now as they’re on the penultimate major descent of the day.
2026-10-11T05:17:12.431Z
The chase now reduced to 10 riders.
2026-10-11T05:16:49.822Z
Würtz Schmidt and co have been brought back but it is a very strung out group.
2026-10-11T05:15:41.292Z
40km to go
2026-10-11T05:14:40.866Z
Würtz Schmidt, Vermeersch, Swfit and Stosek have a gap in the chase and South is riding across to them.
2026-10-11T05:13:41.408Z
Young is the youngest out front and may have made some nutrition mistakes or he just doesn’t have the legs on the day.
2026-10-11T05:11:51.989Z
And Young is also starting to struggle out front.
2026-10-11T05:11:35.109Z
The chase group is starting to split again after a short descent with Würtz Schmidt pushing hard.
2026-10-11T05:09:53.938Z
Schulting struggling a little bit again on the descent with the road kicking up again and both he and Pöstlberger skidding their wheels a little bit.
2026-10-11T05:09:02.897Z
Vermeersch refuses to pull through in the chase and the pace stalls hugely. The leaders gap is out to 1’44” again. The break have been out front for over 100km now.
2026-10-11T04:59:44.458Z
50km to go
2026-10-11T04:55:11.641Z
Lindberg also returns to the chase group and immediately hits the front again for Würtz Schmidt.
2026-10-11T04:54:02.750Z
The chasing group of favourites had very clear sighting of the break up the road as the gap dropped to 44″ with it going back to a minute again.
2026-10-11T04:51:36.508Z
Swenson, Avancini and Voss all manage to get back onto the group of favourites.
2026-10-11T04:50:37.842Z
(Image credit: Life Time)
2026-10-11T04:47:14.155Z
The leading trio are still riding very well but the favourites are closing fast now.
(Image credit: SWPix)
2026-10-11T04:46:14.500Z
The break has now seen their advantage slashed again to just over a minute with Würtz Schmidt, South, Vermeersch, Stosek, Swift, Bak Klaris and Dewulf pushing clear of the rest of the chasers.
2026-10-11T04:43:16.174Z
Würtz Schmidt is pushing hard in the peloton dropping Beers, Avancini, Swenson.
2026-10-11T04:41:59.627Z
For this entire climb the leaders have been looking over their shoulder as they expect to see the bunch coming. But they still have a substantial lead.
2026-10-11T04:40:57.049Z
Voss manages to get back onto this favourites group.
2026-10-11T04:39:40.464Z
Multiple riders being dropped on the climb in the peloton including Paul Voss (Germany), Griffin Easter (USA), Tjulander and others.
2026-10-11T04:38:17.132Z
The break head onto the penultimate major climb of the day as we are well beyond halfway now. Ellis Creek is a brutal ascent with 1’58” splitting the leaders and the peloton now.
2026-10-11T04:35:08.231Z
60km to go
2026-10-11T04:32:38.596Z
Crash
2026-10-11T04:30:47.800Z
Meanwhile, back in the peloton, the Australian wildlife is getting involved as a wallaby jumps in front of the peloton. All okay, thankfully.
2026-10-11T04:29:42.814Z
The break went into a corner there that was covered in very wet and loose mud. Schulting has to take the foot out and had to slide to the right of the road but they are all still riding hard.
2026-10-11T04:27:18.338Z
Lawrence Naesen (Belgium) has made it back into the peloton but he looks just to be hanging on for the time being.
2026-10-11T04:26:05.720Z
The peloton are still unable to close this gap up to the leaders with 2’42” with the second hour of this race being at just over 35kph.
2026-10-11T04:25:08.646Z
On one of the toughest sections now with very narrow tracks and lots of ruts, foliage on the course and a lot of potholes. This is around the section that saw Geerike Schreurs and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio crash out of the race yesterday.
2026-10-11T04:23:46.308Z
Now time for the Lewana climb which is 1.5km long and an average of 5.3%.
2026-10-11T04:21:51.984Z
One of the Dutch riders with a dropped chain in the peloton. That will likely see his day end at the front of the race now the pace is really on.
2026-10-11T04:19:43.110Z
The peloton splitting to bits on this descent with several riders looking like they are struggling to follow the Danish trio out front.
2026-10-11T04:18:39.838Z
The rain is starting to fall now and it is making it a bit skittish with Pöstlberger saving a slide on a hairpin having to take a foot out.
2026-10-11T04:17:44.273Z
The leaders are now descending Arcadia. More rutted tracks with a big lock up of the back wheel by Young.
2026-10-11T04:17:03.752Z
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-10-11T04:14:10.852Z
Denmark now takes full control of the peloton with all three riders on the front. The gap is at 2’38” up to the leaders.
2026-10-11T04:11:57.889Z
Lindberg tried a move off the front of the peloton but he was heavily marked by Habets and Avancini with the rest coming back across as well.
2026-10-11T04:10:35.414Z
75km to go
2026-10-11T04:04:59.927Z
Over the top of Arcadia and the gap has been sliced again with Bak Klaris and Würtz Schmidt taking it down to 2’10”.
2026-10-11T04:04:12.139Z
Würtz Schmidt hit the front of the peloton and he has absolutely obliterated the group losing around 12 riders from the bunch.
2026-10-11T04:03:32.756Z
Multiple riders being spat out of the peloton including Sweden’s Michael Tjulander. Likewise Luxembourg’s Loïc Bettendorff.
2026-10-11T04:00:19.734Z
The peloton are now 3’03” down on the leaders with 29 riders in the bunch.
2026-10-11T03:59:00.001Z
Stehli now being distanced off the back of the peloton.
2026-10-11T03:57:11.080Z
This is the loop that was not used in the women’s race. The Arcadia climb is a brutal ascent and, like all the climbs on the route, has a nasty plateau over the top before descending.
2026-10-11T03:55:08.828Z
The peloton just rode through a feed zone and have been given an update on the time. Immediately the pace in the pack is upped by Denmark.
2026-10-11T03:54:20.186Z
Arcadia climb now at 2.5km long with an average gradient of 8.4% with an absolutely astonishingly steep max kick of 34%.
2026-10-11T03:53:34.138Z
Several Dutch riders in the peloton including Adne Koster at the back. He has had quite the season including 6th at Unbound.
2026-10-11T03:47:44.775Z
Andreas Stokbro Nielsen (Denmark) off the back of the peloton at the moment. A rider we would expect to still be right up there but he may have had an issue.
2026-10-11T03:46:51.437Z
Couple of spots of rain on the course at the moment as the riders were treated to a small section of asphalt before returning to the gravel and a few deep potholes.
2026-10-11T03:44:36.713Z
2026-10-11T03:41:28.861Z
90km to go
2026-10-11T03:40:30.932Z
There has been some great crowds out in Western Australia so far.
(Image credit: SWPix)
2026-10-11T03:39:14.408Z
Pöstlberger and Young gapping Schulting on this descent as the track is very rutted and churned up.
2026-10-11T03:35:17.258Z
There’s an new split in the peloton. Almost perfectly in half. It will stitch back together but a lot of looking around.
2026-10-11T03:33:44.247Z
For the first time, the leading trio now are said to have a gap of 3’09” on the peloton. That is a very big gap to give riders of the quality of Young, Schulting and Pöstlberger.
2026-10-11T03:32:37.485Z
(Image credit: Daniela Tommasi / SEVEN Gravel Race)
2026-10-11T03:31:18.052Z
After some undulating and a few kicker climbs the riders are finally going to get another proper descent. This is the way of all the climbs on the route, they don’t go downhill properly after the top, they drag on and plateau for a bit with a few climbs dotted along the undulating way to the descent.
2026-10-11T03:28:00.885Z
100km to go
2026-10-11T03:27:03.155Z
Felix Stehli (Switzerland), Roman Holzer (Switzerland) and Ole Theiler (Germany) sitting at the back of the peloton currently.
2026-10-11T03:25:03.440Z
All three big names who were off the back at Brockman, Beers, Avancini and Vermeersch, are now all at the front of the peloton.
2026-10-11T03:24:05.326Z
(Image credit: Getty Images)
2026-10-11T03:22:41.397Z
2026-10-11T03:18:53.822Z
The peloton has regrouped a little bit as the likes of Vermeersch, Beers and Avancini appear to be back in there.
2026-10-11T03:17:41.884Z
Onto the Shale climb. Named for the shale style gravel which is much more traditional to what we see in Europe, especially the UK.
2026-10-11T03:13:21.621Z
Now onto the Mader climb at 750m with an average of 12% on more traditional gravel compared to the pea gravel. The time gap is said to be 2’33” but we’ll take that with a pinch of salt after the live timings at the top of Brockman.
2026-10-11T03:11:07.809Z
(Image credit: Michal Cerveny/SWpix.com)
2026-10-11T03:09:06.605Z
Daan Soete (Belgium) is another big name who is out of the back. He is even further off the back than Vermeersch, Beers and Avancini.
2026-10-11T03:08:37.916Z
Now onto the Adina climb for the leaders.
2026-10-11T03:07:02.211Z
Defending champion Florian Vermeersch (Belgium) is out of the back with other big names Matt Beers (South Africa) and Henrique Avancini (Brazil). They’re a minute out of the back of the peloton.
2026-10-11T03:05:50.528Z
The gap updates on the timings and the peloton are now just 1’02” down with Connor Swift (Great Britain), Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark), Keegan Swenson (USA) and Paul Voss (Germany) leading the way.
(Image credit: SWPix)
2026-10-11T03:03:37.956Z
The tempo in the peloton has seen 30″ chipped off the advantage of the three leaders with 2’00” the new gap.
2026-10-11T03:02:51.178Z
Piotr Havik (Netherlands) losing touch at the back of the peloton as well as multiple Danish riders but they still have numbers at the front with Mads Würtz Schmidt, Magnus Bak Klaris and Andreas Stokbro.
2026-10-11T03:00:13.607Z
Pirotte is finally caught by the peloton with the Danish causing some damage here as the bunch is starting to split further.
2026-10-11T02:58:44.035Z
These three out front are riding very well together as we get to see Pirotte for the first time in a while as he is still very much in no-mans-land.
(Image credit: James Raison/SWpix.com)
2026-10-11T02:57:29.786Z
Back in the peloton it is Denmark who have taken up the chasing for their leader and European champion Mads Würtz Schmidt.
2026-10-11T02:56:31.663Z
The first major climb of the day, it is the climb of Brockman, 1.7km with a hellish average of 12%. This really split things up in the women’s race but it was not decisive.
2026-10-11T02:52:40.890Z
One of the Australian riders just having a spill on the hairpin on the bottom of the descent. The peloton had split with a few riders now getting back in including Freddy Ovett (Australia).
2026-10-11T02:49:00.780Z
120km to go
2026-10-11T02:48:01.977Z
Few more riders out the back of the peloton including a couple from Canada as well as Rick Nobel (Netherlands). It is a real war of attrition out there.
2026-10-11T02:46:56.184Z
The first descent is on now as they go down Killarney. All the riders out front are giving plenty of space to each other and making sure they get down this slightly damp and skittish descent.
2026-10-11T02:41:06.173Z
Two riders have kicked out of the peloton. Another Dutch rider as well as one from Belgium.
2026-10-11T02:36:35.997Z
They are now on the first climb of the day, the Killarney climb. Pöstlberger, Young and Schulting have 2’09” now on the bunch. This could be very dangerous as all three leaders are very capable with Pöstlberger and Young both winners of World Series races this year.
2026-10-11T02:31:52.446Z
130km to go
2026-10-11T02:29:47.650Z
Pöstlberger and Young went up against each other earlier in the year with the Austrian taking the win at The Gralloch in Gatehouse-of-Fleet and the Forest of Galloway up in Scotland.
2026-10-11T02:26:12.740Z
Gravel starts
2026-10-11T02:24:54.778Z
After briefly losing pictures we go back to the break and see that Pirotte is no longer in the break who have 58″ on the peloton. Maybe a mechanical or just dropping back.
2026-10-11T02:18:35.599Z
Pöstlberger and Young are joined Peter Schulting (Netherlands) and Jo Pirotte (Belgium).
2026-10-11T02:17:20.997Z
A few more counter attacks coming out of the peloton trying to get ahead before the gravel even starts.
2026-10-11T02:16:52.140Z
One of the Danish riders is trying to bridge but is struggling to get to the four leaders who have 46″ on the peloton.
2026-10-11T02:14:46.832Z
One of the Lithuanian riders tried to be involved but has already been distanced. Two riders from Lithuania racing today, they are Martynas Tomkus and Valdemar Volodko.
2026-10-11T02:13:15.949Z
Attack
2026-10-11T02:11:37.859Z
They have 9km of asphalt to begin before the gravel. The route is 85% gravel and hardly ever flat.
2026-10-11T02:10:37.082Z
143.7km to go
2026-10-11T02:08:21.749Z
The route is 143.7km but an absolutely brutal 3713 metres of elevation.
2026-10-11T02:07:01.427Z
There are a few road riders at the race, it is not just Vermeersch. Stan Dewulf (Belgium), Connor Swift (Great Britain), Andreas Stokbro (Denmark), Anton Stensby (Norway), Cameron Scott (Australia) and Ole Theiler (Germany).
2026-10-11T01:56:26.682Z
Around 15 minutes until the race gets underway.
(Image credit: SWPix)
2026-10-11T01:56:05.441Z
There’s also former mountain bike world champion Henrique Avancini (Brazil) riding. He has had a superb road season winning the GC at the Tour of the Gila as well as finishing in the top 10 at the Tour du Rwanda. He also won the Brazil gravel and has looked strong on the tracks. One to watch.
2026-10-11T01:53:22.628Z
The gravel specialists will be hoping they can take the win this time, though. The likes of Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark), Jenson Young (Great Britain), Daan Soete (Belgium), Matthew Beers (South Africa), Keegan Swenson (USA) and others will all hope to better the ‘roadies’ today.
2026-10-11T01:50:53.264Z
Much like in the women’s side of the sport, the worlds have been dominated by road riders with Vermeersch being the current holder of the rainbow bands after Gianni Vermeersch, Matej Mohoric and Mathieu van der Poel.
2026-10-11T01:47:14.922Z
Unfortunately, after travelling to Australia for the race Czech rider Petr Vakoč has had to pull out of the race due to illness. He is one of eight riders down as a DNS so far today.
2026-10-11T01:33:53.795Z
It was extremely muddy yesterday for the women but it did help on the unique pea gravel that is on most of the course here. When dry it is like riding on ice. Very slippery and unpredictable. When wet it compacts down and is far more manageable.
2026-10-11T01:29:01.515Z
(Image credit: SWPix)
2026-10-11T01:25:16.836Z
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews’ live updates of the men’s elite UCI Gravel World Championships 2026 from Nannup in Western Australia.