[Header image by Unbound Gravel]
As the much over-lauded (or perhaps I should say overlorded), indefinable, and mythical ‘spirt of gravel’ drifts its jolly old holy way across the high plains of the wild west, wandering as lonely as a cloud through Britian’s boldest landscapes, and rumbling like Thor across the lava fields of Iceland pondering the whole inner meaning of gravel riding, there’s a whole lot of dissent bubbling among its growing band of disciples and devotees.
Just a few days ago, Red On Sports, the founders and organisers of the British Gravel Championships and the Gralloch UCI Gravel World Series round, announced that they had failed to reach an acceptable agreement with British Cycling to organise the Championships.
This came a few days after the controversial parting of ways between The Rift gravel race in Iceland and the privately run Gravel Earth Series, which is organised by Klassmark, that owns and runs The Traka and several other gravel and other trail sporting events.
These individual events and series differ greatly, not just in their definitions of gravel racing and their ethos, but in their ownerships, official cycling federation parentships (or not) and structures. As the sport seemingly thrives, so these factors are starting to clash somewhat, which seems inevitable. Is it manageable, though?
The basics
Red On Sports inaugurated the British Gravel Championships back in 2021, when it was staged as The King’s Cup and held close to Thetford, and the company has promoted the championships ever since.
It would be fair to say that British Cycling had little interest in being involved in gravel racing back then – let alone organising a new national championships. As the numbers rose, so did the returns, and BC is now keen to take a more controlling stake in the race, its organisation, and the future of what’s turning out to be a viable discipline.
Clearly, Red On has done a great job with the race, and perhaps even more so with the Gralloch (also UCI-aligned), and has taken race coverage to a level that BC would struggle with. It’s been suggested they might not be inclined to continue expanding the reach and coverage going ahead which, as we understand it, was part of the ‘misalignment’.
Also, it’s well worth noting that there are some hefty fees involved in running an event; in this case, Forestry England also wanted a bigger slice of the cash pie, which forced Red On to make a last-minute fling for the Scottish borders back in 2024.
With BC deciding to take a bigger hand in things, the terms of engagement changed somewhat, including in the probable financial benefits. Unable to agree on this, Red On declined to take the arrangement any further, and BC are now looking at tenders from other organisations to stage the race.
While I can sympathise with Red On, this is also an officially sanctioned title race – and, at some point, it seems inevitable that the governing body would want to have more of a say, and stake in the show. After all, isn’t that what ‘official’ bodies generally do?
The Rift and The Cuckoo
Lauf’s Icelandic gravel epic, The Rift, has evolved into one of the great classics of this neo-offroad sport since it launched in 2019. Coincidentally, that same year, the Traka in Girona also rolled out for the first time, and the pair are arguably the most prestigious European gravel events now.
Klassmark, which organises the Traka, launched its Gravel Earth series in 2023, which comprised a whole bunch of races around the world, and had an ecologically friendly ethos behind it. Naturally, The Rift was on the roster, which really boosted the profile of the series.
From the outside, it would seem that some rounds (of the Gravel Earth Series) struggled with entry numbers, which would have made the fees hard to bear for the organisers, and yet the number of rounds was greatly increased in 2025. Too much, too soon? From what I understand, the Rift organisers had also paid handsomely for a boosted media package, which seemingly didn’t satisfy their expectations, and so there were already rumbles between them.
2023 Gralloch – Random bikes-1.jpg, by Suvi loponen
When the 2026 Gravel Earth Series was announced, there was no Rift there – and the series was slashed right back to just 12 rounds, six of which are Traka-branded and organised. Those also carry more points than the independent rounds, which has also soured the mix somewhat.
However, there was seemingly something of a side slap in the face too – a whole new Traka-branded Icelandic gravel round named The Cuckoo (irony, or intention?), which will take place in a very similar area to the Rift and two weeks later. Klassmark says the race plans had been in the works for a while, and so they implemented them when The Rift pulled out of the series.
Is it all simply business?
Where does it go from here? For races and organisations, be they ‘officially sanctioned’ or wholly commercial entities, finances are an increasingly important factor in the equation. This is understandable.
Will the ‘rebels’ and the ‘feds’ be able to co-exist, agree to disagree and still thrive, or will cash and power kneecap the sport? We’ve no way of knowing yet, as the politics is very much playing out right now, but it looks like the organisation of major gravel events is set to be fractious for the foreseeable.