Eight race ‘Gravel Earth’ global series to debut in 2023
Lachlan Morton and Nathan Haas have helped Girona-based promoter Klassmark put together the series


The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Gravel Earth, a new globe-trotting race series for professional an amateurs has been unveiled for 2023.
The series will include 6-8 gravel events around the globe and end with the ‘Earth Final’, a championship style race at the end of the cycling season.
The series, organised by Girona based promotion company Klassmark is, they say, designed to reach a global audience.
Klassmark’s own endurance gravel event, the Traka, will get the series underway in April, and the Earth Final will wrap up proceedings in late October or November, also organised by the Spain-based promotion company.
The various other events are will be organised by a variety of different promoters across the globe.
So grab yourself one of the best gravel bikes around, get training and get ready to ride.
Cristina Freixes, Klassmark co-owner, said that the idea and thinking behind Gravel Earth was to expose more cycling fans to off-road racing far from civilisation.
She said: “What we wanted is to choose different kinds of styles of races but all in amazing places.”
“To provide more of an experience than a competition.”
Despite Freixes promise to make the event more of an experience than a competition, there is still a slight competitive element incorporated into the event.
A points system has been set up so that the top male, female and non-binary finishers of each event will be awarded a certain amount. Each gravel event will also be weighted differently depending on the difficulty of the course.
Gravel has boomed in recent years, with the UCI now organising its own Gravel World Championships. The event ran for the first time this year and was won by Belgian Gianni Vermeersch.
Belgian superstar Wout van Aert recently said that he was eyeing potential participation in the gravel worlds in the years to come.
With each event being rated differently, Gravel Earth provides the opportunity for riders to select events that particularly suit their riding style and skillset.
For example, victory at the Migration Gravel Race in Kenya will earn you 12,000 points whereas the The Rift and Nordic Gravel Series events in Sweden will get you 9,000 a piece.
Freixes explained that she and the Klassmark team took advice from riders such as Nathan Haas and Lachlan Morton to develop the points system. The overall ranking for the series will be determined by adding a rider's top two scores, as well as the result of the Earth Final, which will involve more points than the other events.
“This classification format rewards the most regular and versatile bikers of the year,” Freixes added.
2023 GRAVEL EARTH SERIES QUALIFYING EVENTS
THE TRAKA - SPAIN
Dates: April 29-30
Race Format: Three single stage options
Race Structure: Stage One, 100 km/1,000 metres Stage Two, 200 km/2,000 metres Stage Three, 360 km/4,500 metres
MIGRATION GRAVEL RACE - KENYA
Dates: June 20-23
Race Format: Four stages
Race Structure: 650 km total, 8,000 metres of elevation
NATURE IS BIKE - FRANCE
Dates: June 26
Race Format: Single stage
Race Structure: 300 km, 2,640 metres of elevation
OCTOPUS GRAVEL - SWITZERLAND
Dates: July 1
Race Format: Timed segments
Race Structure: 155 km, 4,450 metres of elevation
THE RIFT - ICELAND
Dates: July 23
Race Format: Single Stage
Race Structure: 200 km / 2,165 metres of elevation / 100 km / 1,050 metres of elevation
NORDIC GRAVEL SERIES: BERGSLAGEN - SWEDEN
Dates: August 12
Race Format: Single stage
Race Structure: 180 km, elevation gain to be determined
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Tom is a News and Features Writer at Cycling Weekly, and previously worked in communications at Oxford Brookes University. He has reported from a wide range of races and events including the Tour de France and World Championships.
-
-
Why am I so tired? New AI tool promises to answer this and more from your wrist - tech round up
From a coach on your wrist to no-sealant in your tires: tech news that piqued our interest this week
By Luke Friend Published
-
'The hardest ride': Matt Downie beats Mark Beaumont's NC500 record by an hour
26-year-old completes 516 mile course in 27 hours 30 minutes dead to set new best time
By Adam Becket Published
-
Team USA announces all-star lineup for the UCI Gravel World Championships
With 23 elite riders led by Swenson and Stephens, Team USA hopes to claim a medal at the second-ever event in Italy
By Kristin Jenny Published
-
Keegan Swenson and Lauren Stephens crowned first-ever US National Gravel Champions
The first-ever USA Cycling Gravel National Championships was held in Gering, Nebraska, on Sept. 9. Two elite titles and 30 amateur medals were handed out.
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
750D: Do we really need another wheel diameter standard?
WTB prototype gravel bike wheel gets facepalm full house from CW tech team but on second thought…
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
Colorado Trail Race 2023: 527 high-altitude miles, a high drop-out rate, a rookie winner and a new course record
An original of the bikepacking world, this Colorado Rockies race is not for the faint of heart
By Jennaye Derge Published
-
Power couple Swenson and Villafañe unstoppable again at SBT GRVL
Vermeulen and Stetina, Cromwell and Oliveira Parks complete the podiums after 142 hot and dry miles
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
How some of the most innovative tech in gravel racing actually originated from triathlon
Gravel racers should pay attention to what road time trial specialists and multisport racers are riding, and borrow the best ideas and look for the best bike features.
By Greg Kaplan Published
-
Researchers are studying 'The Spirit of Gravel' — no, really
Olympic mountain biker and Master's degree student Haley Smith is studying "the Spirit of Gravel", what draws people to this sport and the impact on their mental health and well-being.
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
The history of gravel racing - cycling's newest trend is older than it looks
With global coverage, oversubscribed lotteries, huge turn outs, big prize purses and superstar names riding for both money and kicks, it’s safe to say gravel racing has landed. But how did we get here?
By Luke Friend Published