Gravel Was Built in America But UCI Worlds Aren’t Coming Any Time Soon

The UCI Gravel World Championships still are not coming to the United States.

The UCI unveiled 19 future world championship hosts across all disciplines Thursday, but one glaring exclusion is the United States and gravel.

For the country that turned racing over dusty farm tracks and county roads into a global phenomenon, the race for the rainbow jersey will have to wait.

The next five gravel worlds will be contested in Châtel, France, in 2027, AlUla, Saudi Arabia, in 2028, Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland, in 2029, Turnhout, Belgium, in 2030, and Trentino, Italy, in 2031.

That leaves gravel’s American gravel heartland on the sidelines for another half decade.

The United States helped the discipline evolve from a grassroots movement more than a decade ago into one of cycling’s fastest-growing markets.

U.S. gravel roads already host many of the discipline’s biggest and most influential events — like Unbound Gravel, SBT GRVL and the Belgian Waffle Ride — but has not hosted worlds since the UCI launched the officially-sanctioned championships in 2022.

The oversight may not worry everyone, because many inside gravel’s fiercely independent core have never fully embraced the UCI’s arrival on the scene.

Even if the rainbow jersey carries a touch of prestige, no gravel specialist has yet claimed the elite title, with road stars like Marianne Vos and Mathieu van der Poel poaching the stripes.

The absence from Thursday’s list does not necessarily mean the UCI rejected an American bid. Velo reached out to the UCI to confirm if there was an official bid from a U.S. candidate.

No road worlds either, but MTB is coming

Montréal is hosting the UCI road worlds this week, but there’s no North American return for road worlds on the medium-term horizon.

North America has hosted the UCI road worlds on five occasions. Canada three times, in Montréal in 1974 and 2026 and Hamilton, Ontario, in 2003, with the United States twice, in Colorado Springs in 1986 and Richmond, Virginia, in 2015.

Despite Los Angeles playing host to the Olympic Games in 2028, there was no mention of the U.S. bringing back what would be a third American-based road world championships. The next available window is 2033.

North American fans will not be completely shut out of UCI world championship racing action.

The mountain bike worlds return to two traditional off-road meccas, with Durango, Colorado, hosting MTB worlds 2030, and Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, confirmed this week for 2032.

Mexico will host the mountain bike marathon worlds in Atlixco, Puebla, in 2029.

Road worlds to India, but where’s China?

Gravel might be bypassing its American heartland, but the UCI is pushing into ambitious new territory by confirming that India will host the 2032 road world championships in Pune.

Road worlds in India should deliver something completely different, with all the color, heat, noise, crowds, curry, and beautiful chaos that will come with racing on the sub-continent.

India has only hosted a handful of top-level, UCI-sanctioned road races — not all of them have gone to plan — but the decision marks a new frontier for cycling.

UCI president David Lappartient said he hopes the championships provide a catalyst for competitive cycling and daily bike riding in a country containing nearly one-fifth of the world’s population.

China, however, is another glaring absentee from the newly announced hosts.

The men’s WorldTour Tour of Guangxi is confirmed only through 2027, while its women’s race was scrapped for 2026.

That raises some fresh doubts about China — which hosts a packed calendar of domestic racing — and its long-term place in international road racing.

Benidorm to host CX worlds

Benidorm will bring cyclocross worlds to Spain in 2031.

The Mediterranean resort has quickly emerged as one of the World Cup’s wildest stops, with huge crowds packing in around a fast, dusty circuit.

The Netherlands will stage a combined road and para-cycling road championships in Groningen and Drenthe in 2034.

The UCI also moved the 2028 mountain bike marathon worlds from Cape Town to Castro, Italy, without explaining why.

The UCI also continues with its “super worlds” project — with multiple disciplines contested under sprawling event — with Haute-Savoie, France, in 2027, and Trentino, Italy, in 2031.

The concept debuted with 13 disciplines in Glasgow, Scotland in 2023. For France, the format expands to include 20 different disciplines to be contested across two weeks of competition.

Upcoming UCI road worlds

Upcoming UCI gravel worlds