Organisers walk away from British Cycling's 'rinse and repeat' Gravel Championships takeover

Having inaugurated and organised the British Gravel Championships for the past five seasons, Red On Sports has walked away from the event after British Cycling opted to begin running its own version.

Red On, which also organises The Gralloch gravel event, said in a statement that it had been unable to reach an agreement with British Cycling that "protects the integrity, ambition, and sustainability of the Championships."

It added: "After choosing not to be involved during the British Gravel Championships' formative five years of growth and delivery, British Cycling is now looking to take the Championships forward under their own structure."

It went on to say it had failed to secure "key guarantees" from British Cycling that would ensure "fair and safe racing delivery, long-term [media] investment, racing for all age groups, and sustainable event growth".

Red On's Maximilian Wussler told Cycling Weekly this was largely due to age group racing that was set to be in 10-year brackets rather than the current five years, as well as difficulty funding things such as exclusive-use environments and control rooms, because of the loss of "50% of commercial rights".

Explaining the points about investment, Wussler said that BC had only offered Red On a one-year contract

"You can't invest in something if there's no guarantee of a future addition, because that's the idea of investing – you reap the rewards down the line," he said. "One would hope there's a realisation on British Cycling's front that it's going to require investment, and that can only happen if there's multi-year commitments."

Wussler added that Red On Sports had nevertheless been invited to take part in the tendering process as BC searched for an organiser, but said its plans were uninspiring and seemed like a "rinse and repeat" from other disciplines. "I think it's just more of the same, really. And I think a thriving discipline like gravel needs an approach that is appropriate for it, rather than a bit of a rinse and repeat from other disciplines."

"It's obviously not the news we were hoping to share at this point in the year," Wussler said. "It's been a long process, and it's come to what is, on the whole, a rather sad conclusion."

Red On could feasibly, and legally, continue to run its own version of the championships, but decided it would not make sense for riders or organisers.

"It would not be in anyone's interest for there to be two competing championships," Wussler said. "And that's also why, from the get-go, we've been very open to to working with British Cycling. In 2021 when the first event launched, and we did approach British Cycling about this, but at the time, it was not something they believed in or wanted to support.

"So obviously, over those sort of formative years, we made the investment and put in the time and effort and dedication to grow it," he said. "Now we're here five years later. It's a thriving discipline, and it's become a thriving discipline without British Cycling involvement. Obviously it was probably a bit of a turning point for British Cycling to say they want in."

Responding to Red On's statement, a British Cycling spokesman rejected the idea that there would be any issues over safety and fairness, saying in a statement:

“Gravel is an ever-growing and popular discipline, and we are excited to be expanding our delivery moving forward. We are currently out to tender for a sanctioned British Gravel Championships for the first time in 2026 with lots of interest from enthusiastic and knowledgeable event providers.

“We are committed to ensuring events work for everyone involved, from riders to event organisers, from volunteers to the wider cycling network, and this is central to our strategic work in modernising the sport. Fair and safe racing is paramount to our delivery of events across disciplines and is critical in our decision making when collaborating with event providers to deliver competition.”

For its part Red On remained optimistic about the future, Wussler said, with the imminent announcement of a new event, which would "essentially take The Gralloch-type format without the UCI brand to a venue in England".

"We've seen the success of The Gralloch and we're trying to bring that to more venues," he added. "And as we've seen with Dalby Forest and other venues we've looked at over the past, there's some beautiful gravel available across Britain."