Cadillac Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas made the most of his summer break on Saturday, finishing 5th in the men’s 35-39 category at the inaugural Gravel Tour Hlinsko in Czechia, the newest stop on the UCI Gravel World Series calendar.
Racing under bib number 77 — matching his F1 car number — Bottas completed the demanding 131.5-kilometre course, which climbed 1,721 metres through the Iron Mountains and Žďárské Vrchy Highlands, in around 4 hours 25 minutes. The result secures his qualification for the UCI Gravel World Championships, set for Nannup, Australia on 10-11 October 2026 – which unfortunately conflicts with F1’s Singapore Gran Prix.
The Finn’s appearance gave the debut UCI Czech gravel race unexpected star power. Race director Petr Svoboda credited Bottas with elevating the event’s profile among fans of both cycling and motorsport.
Gravel racing has become a fixture of Bottas’s off-season calendar. Earlier in 2026, he claimed victory in the 35-39 age group at SEVEN in Nannup — the same venue hosting this year’s World Championships — and stood on the podium in his category at the Sea Otter Classic in California. He has also previously reached the podium at Unbound Gravel in Kansas.
Bottas heads back to Cadillac duties as F1 resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix later this month, but the Hlinsko result confirms his gravel ambitions remain very much alive.
Photo Credit: Cadillac Formula 1 Team, Valterri Bottas
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