UCI GRAVEL WORLD SERIES CALENDAR LEAKED – PHILIPPINES TO HOST FIRST RACE

Local news media in the Philippines is reporting the much anticipated 2022 UCI Gravel World Series will launch with the first race taking place in Bongabon, Philippines on 03 April 2022.

Bongabon Mayor Allan Xystus A. Gamilla made the exciting announcement, “Bongabon, being an emerging destination for cycling tourism and outdoor recreation, offers breathtaking sceneries with the most wonderful views of the Philippines’ untapped countryside. It’s also a great place with exciting backroads, trails, and routes…for any rider who wants a shot at the rainbow stripes.”

A preliminary 2022 UCI Gravel World Series (UCI GWS) calendar listing 14 events around the world has been leaked and provided to Gran Fondo Daily News.

2022 UCI Gravel World Series (Preliminary – Unofficial)

04/03/2022 Gravel Filippine Bongabon PHI
06/05/2022 Wish One Gravel Race FRA
06/18/2022 Gravel Adventure POL
06/18/2022 Blue Mountains Gravel Fondo CAN
06/25/2022 Highlands Gravel Classic USA
07/08/2022 Gravel Ensenada MEX
08/20/2022 Gravel Grit n Grind SWE
08/28/2022 Houffa Gravel BEL
09/03/2022 La Monsterrato ITA
09/04/2022 Gravelista AUS
09/17/2022 Kettle Mettle CAN
09/17/2022 Gravel One Fifty NDL
09/18/2022 Ranxo ESP
09/24/2022 Jingle GX Gravel Race USA
10/??/2022 World Championships ITA?

These events, sponsored by TREK, will be “mass participation races”, allowing gravel cyclists world-wide the opportunity to qualify for the first ever UCI Gravel World Championships, now rumored to be in Italy at L’Eroica Tuscany in October according to cyclingnews.com.  It is interesting to note that no existing large scale gravel events are on the preliminary calendar, just newer small/medium sized ones nobody has heard of.

While the UCI and series organiser Golazo Sports have not released the official UCI GWS calendar, rules or location of the World Championships, in order to qualify for the 2022 Gravel World Championships, participants must finish in the top 25% in their gender age group (five year ranges from 19-79) at a UCI Gravel World Series event and hold a racing license recognized by the UCI.

PHOTOS: UCI GWS