Ready to rumble
‘Gravel racing at a crossroads’ is too tempting a headline, even if the very idea of road infrastructure – intersections, roundabouts, rules and the rest of it – might jar with a purist’s definition of gravel racing and the appeal of riding on gravel roads.
Yet the idea of a crossroads does seem apt in describing where gravel riding might be heading. The culture that has grown up around it is laidback, nonconformist and alternative, the emphasis more on the joy and the challenge of taking part than on the singular goal of winning. But over the last couple of years the scene has taken off to such an extent that it has become big business.
The cycling industry is increasingly banking on gravel. Even traditional companies such as Campagnolo have attributed recent growth in revenue to new gravel groupsets and components, and now the UCI is getting in on the act with an announcement last September that it intends to organise a World Series and World Championships in 2022.
‘For a lot of people mountain biking is a bit too technical and road racing is too tactical. Gravel sits right between those two’
This, say some, sets in motion a battle for the soul of gravel, a branch of cycle sport
