The UCI Gravel World Championship returns to the Veneto region of Italy after a successful first-ever debut in 2022. The race will take place on the flat and fast gravel roads starting from Vicenza, following the Bacchiglione River towards Padua, and then the Brenta River to the finish line in Cittadella. The event sees professional athletes competing against each other in both men’s and women’s categories, along with the best amateur cyclists who qualified during the 15+ qualifier events of the UCI Gravel World Series. Strambecco reviews the Highlands Gravel Classic and the Blue Mountains Gravel Fondo, the only North American series events. The event also rates the event as one of the Best Gravel events in Italy for 2023.
The race has 194 km and 140 km courses, respectively. Riders will face two minor hills in the first twenty kilometers leaving Vicenza. Still, most of the course follows the Bacchiglione River until Padua and then the Brenta River to Cittadella, where the riders cross the finish line for the first time. After the first pass, elite and amateur male category riders 19-49 must complete two more 25 km laps for a total distance of 194 km with 800 m of elevation gain. Elite/Amateur Females and males 50+, on the other hand, will make only one lap of the final circuit for a total distance of 166 km. The race has 36% unpaved roads, 18% hard gravel, 1% cobbles, 17% hard surface, and 27% asphalt.
The Veneto region, located in northeastern Italy, is the first in Italy in terms of its historical past full of warlike events, such as the settlement of the Holy Roman Empire or the permanence of Napoleon. It has a unique artistic and landscape heritage, thanks to monuments of different historical periods, such as the Arena of Verona, the Doge’s Palace in Venice, or the Ponte degli Alpini in Bassano, flanked by the magnificent Dolomites, included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site for their unique landscape and geography. It is the sixth most visited region in Europe.
Vicenza, the capital of the homonymous province in Veneto, will be the start line of the first edition of the Gravel World Championships. It is located at the foot of the Berici Hills and is a destination for cultural tourism, among the UNESCO World Heritage sites. Vicenza is known for its passion for sport, particularly cycling, seeing several competitive and amateur events taking place right from here.
Cittadella, located in the province of Padua, will see the finish line of the Gravel World Cycling Championships. It is famous for being the only walled city in Europe to have a medieval Ronda Walkway, elliptical and completely passable, and every year sees cycling competitions of different levels, including the arrival of the Italian Cycling Championships in 2020.
The UCI Gravel World Series is a sister series of the UCI Gran Fondo Series, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which takes place across multiple countries and continents. These races typically involve long, unpaved routes with challenging terrain and attract professional and amateur riders worldwide. The events are known for their rugged and adventurous nature and are designed to test participants’ endurance, skill, and determination. The series aims to promote and grow the sport of gravel cycling while providing a platform for top-level competition and showcasing the beauty of the natural landscapes in which the events are held.
