On Wednesday the UCI announced new rules for the October 2025 Gran Fondo World Championship and Gravel World Championship that significantly increase the front row grid size – tripling the number of riders receiving a priority start.

In previous world championships the winners of age-based categories in UCI Gran Fondo World Series and UCI Gravel World Series qualifying races were given a privileged starting position up front in a “priority box.”

Now the UCI is tripling the number of riders allowed in the priority box, with the possibility of up to ~100 riders. In addition to the defending World Champions, all riders who finished in the Top 3 in a qualifying race will gain entry into the priority box. This new rule only applies to categories with more than 100 riders at the start. Older categories that have a combined start with multiple categories will not have a priority box, even if the combined group is larger than 100 riders.

The change was made to provide safer racing conditions with less mayhem since the UCI does not limit field sizes at these events (i.e. 2024 Men’s 19-34 Gran Fondo World Championship field size was over 550 racers). It also means riders not lucky enough to start in the new larger priority box will be challenged to reach the front of the race, let alone the podium.

According to the UCI, “The primary goal of this update is to increase safety. By positioning riders of similar skill levels together, the UCI reduces the need for riders to move up through the peloton during the initial kilometers of the race. This also serves as a recognition and reward for the riders’ performance, and it prevents them from having to wait for hours in their regular start box.”

Another option would be to apply UCI rules already in place that limit field sizes to a maximum of 176 riders, which the UCI Management Committee approved in 2017 to enhance rider safety and reduce overcrowding in the peloton.

Photo Credit: Michael Bo Rasmussen / Baghuset

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