Qualifying for the 2027 UCI Gravel World Championships opened on Sunday at Bolero Leuven Legacy Gravel in Belgium, where Belgians Kamiel Notebaert and Nathalie Bex won the elite races.
The sold-out event drew more than 2,100 riders. It was the first qualifier for next year’s worlds in France, and the finale of the Bolero Gravel Series. It came one week after Denmark’s Magnus Bak Klaris won the rainbow jersey in Nannup, Australia.
The 124 km course ran from Heverlee through Brabantse Wouden National Park to the Philipssite in Leuven, on terrain made famous by the 2024 UCI Gravel World Championships.
Notebaert, 23, won the elite men’s race in 03:13:32. In April, he won Gravel One Fifty in the Netherlands in a sprint finish. On Sunday he did it again, outsprinting a tightly packed front group to claim victory. Olivier Godfroid finished 2 seconds behind and Jonas De Fruytier 5 seconds back. Lander Loockx, Arnaud De Lie and Lukas Malezsewski were all credited with finishing 6 seconds behind, while the top ten finished within 7 seconds.
The elite women’s race was just as close. Bex, 28, and the Netherlands’ Maaike ColĂ© sprinted to the finish line together, with Bex taking the win in 03:43:08 and celebrating with a fist pump. Germany’s Jil BrĂĽnger finished third, 1 second behind, and Hanne Van Loock was fourth, 2 seconds back.
In the 80 km race for older age categories, Luxembourg’s Pascal Triebel won the men’s race in 02:21:11. Chris Maas finished 36 seconds behind and Jean-François Bresset 38 seconds back. Belgium’s Annick Van Leuven was the fastest woman in 02:32:18. Marijke De Smedt finished 46 seconds behind, while Emmanuelle Farcy was 4 minutes 47 seconds back.
The event served as an official 2027 UCI Gravel World Championships qualifier, with the top 25% in each age and gender category earning a start position at next August’s worlds in Haute-Savoie, France.
View Bolero Leuven Legacy Gravel results HERE
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