Two key UCI Gravel World Championship qualifying races took place this past weekend in Europe and Africa, with Kenya’s Safari Gravel Race starting on Saturday and Wish One Gravel Race in France closing out the weekend Sunday morning.

The 123km Safari Gravel Race in Kenya’s Hell’s Gate National Park challenged amateurs and seasoned pros alike with 2700m of gritty climbing, including elevations up to a lung-busting 2840m. 5X Dutch National MTB Champion Hans Becking (BUFF-Megamo) crushed the competition, with the 38 year-old securing overall victory in only 3:12:59. Lukas Baum of Germany and American Chad Haga finished in second and third place in 3:17:02 and 3:28:54 respectively. For the women, it was Brit Maddy Nutt taking first place, followed by Xaverine Nirere from Rwanda and American Amity Rockwell from USA.

On Sunday Millau hosted the only French stage of the UCI Gravel World Championship qualifying series at Wish One Gravel Race. On a 145 km course through the hilly Grands Causses park, ARKEA B&B Hotels pro Florian Dauphin won with a final powerful sprint. The 25 year-old road racer finished in 4:25:26, just nipping fellow Frenchman Alexandre Delettre and Tiago Ferreira of Portugal. The German Carolin Schiff won the women’s race for a second time in a row, finishing in 5:06:40. Rosa Kloser of Denmark and Axelle Dubau-Prevot France were second and third with times of 5:06:41 and 5:07:30.

Over 500 gravel cyclists participated in each event, with those finishing in the top 25% of their UCI age/gender category earning automatic invitations to race at the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships later this year.

UCI Wish One Gravel Race results HERE

UCI Safari Gravel Race results pending

Photo Credit: ARKEA B&B Hotels, BUFF-Megamo

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