UCI Gravel World Championships 2026: Route - women

Saturday 10 October – The women’s Gravel World Championships race covers 125.6 kilometres, winding its way through the hills around Nannup, Australia. It is a gruelling course with 3,179 metres of elevation gain, 84% of which is on unpaved roads. Never before has there been so much gravel on the World Championship course.

Published on 1 October 2026

After the start in Nannup in south-west of Australia, the riders tackle 9 kilometres of rolling asphalt before reaching the first gravel section, which is roughly the same length. Then comes the first climb, Brockman Farm, an unpaved 2.4-kilometre ascent at an average gradient of 8.2%. The climb winds its way through beautiful, lush green hills.

That sets the tone. While traversing through enchanting secenry, the climbs the riders encounter are never long, but there are plenty of them. They fluctuate between 1 to 3 kilometres in length, while gradients hover between 5% and 10%. Rarely is there an immediate descent at the top; instead, the route usually continues with a series of short ups and downs before finally heading downhill towards the next challenge.

Halfway through the race, the riders face the toughest section of the day. The Ellis Creek ascent serves up 2 kilometre of unpaved climbing at 9.1%. Once over the top, the route continues for 13 kilometres over rolling terrain before the descent takes the riders to the foot of the final loop.

The so-called Folly loop starts with a 2.4-kilometre climb at 4.8%, with the final kilometre by far the toughest. From the top, the riders can already see Nannup, but they still have 3.5 kilometres to go. This begins with a 1-kilometre descent on unpaved roads, after which the remainder of the route is on asphalt.

Last year, Lorena Wiebes became gravel world champion in Maastricht, on a virtually flat course.

The race gets underway at 10:10 and is expected to finish around 14:10 - both local times (AWST, UTC+8).