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Members Only<\/p>\n
The four-day stage race ditches individual racing to become the world’s most brutal and beautiful team time trial. Its co-founder thinks it’s the future of gravel racing.<\/p>\n
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Migration Gravel Race<\/p>\n
Gravel racing\u2019s biggest problem is that it isn\u2019t exciting enough to watch \u2014 if you can watch it at all. Generally, more knowledgeable fans can predict what is going to happen before a race gets underway, and achieve 95% accuracy. There is potential for this discipline to be great, but right now, the concept is flawed and gravel isn\u2019t doing enough to carve out its own exciting space in a world with myriad other things clawing for attention.<\/p>\n
That is the premise behind new rules set for the 2026 Migration Gravel Race in Kenya. In the event\u2019s seventh edition, there will be no individual classification. Instead, the four-day stage race will be one long, arduous team time trial through the vast landscape of Kenya\u2019s Maasai Mara.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Migration Gravel is a glimpse of Africa\u2019s possible cycling future<\/p>\n Traditional efforts in African cycling development have focused on bringing riders to Europe to race on the road; what if the sport came to them, on their own terms?<\/p>\n The race\u2019s co-founder, Mikel Delagrange, believes that this could be the future of gravel racing, adding layers of unpredictability, tactical unknowns, and unseen hurdles. Turning gravel into a pure team sport could break the monotony and create something that is truly worth following.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just have a sense that gravel is kind of at this inflection point now where it needs to do something different or it is really going to be a fad and will fade into like Gran Fondo status at some stage,\u201d Delagrange told Escape, explaining the decision to switch up Migration Gravel\u2019s format.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Building Africa\u2019s women\u2019s race scene at the Tour du Burundi<\/p>\n Africa\u2019s only UCI women\u2019s stage race shows the potential of the women\u2019s peloton on the continent, and their need for opportunity<\/p>\n \u201cYou already know more or less what’s going to happen [when following most gravel races]. And if you tune in just for the first 30 minutes, you more or less will have it confirmed,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to innovate or die, essentially \u2026 Can we go out and occupy another space and let that thing be the thing that people care about and are interested in? I think that’s the question that lingers, but we’re going to go and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Delagrange is the co-founder and director of The Amani Project, which amongst other things runs a series of leading gravel races in East Africa, including the UCI Gravel World Series race in Naivasha, Kenya.<\/p>\n 2027 will be Migration Gravel\u2019s seventh edition, taking place across four days and 650km. For the past six years, the race has followed the grain, mirroring other major gravel events in terms of its rule book. In many other ways, this is a race that is distinct, taking place in the Maasai Mara set against its vast and breathtaking landscape and amongst the lions, wildebeests, and zebras.<\/p>\n Next year\u2019s race, taking place between the 15th and 18th of June, will see the inauguration of a new four-stage team gravel race format. Teams of three or four will compete against one another, with the time each day taken on the third rider across the line for each squad. Unlike some other gravel races, drafting is allowed between team-mates, as is sharing food and mechanical service.<\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSCF6475-e261c21e-b090-44e9-bf62-553f6291a3d8.jpg\")
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Migration\u2019s new rules<\/p>\n
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