NANNUP — The 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships venture outside Europe for the first time this weekend, with the rugged forests around Nannup in Western Australia set to decide the rainbow jerseys. The women's race covers 125.5km with 3,179 metres of climbing, nearly triple the 1,190 metres of last year's edition in the Netherlands, while the elite men tackle 144km and 3,713 metres. Wide, hard-paced dirt roads, loose rocks, clay and technical descents will define a course that organisers say favours true gravel specialists over WorldTour road pros.
Travel cost and time have trimmed elite field sizes, but those making the long journey have done so with intent. Quality remains high, drawn from the UCI Gravel World Series, Gravel Earth Series and Life Time Grand Prix. Defending men's champion Florian Vermeersch of Belgium returns after his solo 20km winning move in 2025, having finished second in both 2023 and 2024, while 2024 women's champion Marianne Vos of the Netherlands is back after finishing second last year. "It would be awesome to be the first two-time winner but I'm aware that it's not going to be easy," Vermeersch said.
Among the women, Argentina's Sofia Gomez Villafane arrives as a leading favourite despite limited UCI points and a mid-grid start. The three-time Life Time Grand Prix winner has twice won Unbound Gravel 200 and The Traka 200 and gathered 200 UCI points this year with victory at Castellón. Vos brings 13 other world titles across disciplines and local knowledge from the former Tour of Margaret River. Home hopes rest with Oceania champion Nicole Frain, who topped the 2025 UCI Gravel World Series standings and has four series wins this year, and national champion Tiffany Cromwell among six Australian women. Germany's Rosa Klöser, winner of The Traka 360 and Sea Otter Europe and fifth or better in three Unbound 200s, and Dutchwoman Geerike Schreurs, overall winner of the 2026 Gravel Earth Series and winner at The Gralloch, add depth to a stacked field.
In the men's field, Denmark's Mads Würtz Schmidt is the form rider after sweeping The Traka 360, Unbound 200 and a second successive European gravel title while also securing the Gravel Earth Series overall. The United States' Keegan Swenson, the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon world champion and fifth in Italy in 2022, returns after an out-of-competition crash that caused a fractured pelvis earlier this year, while South Africa's Matt Beers, a four-time Cape Epic winner and runner-up at Unbound this year, is back for the first time since 2022. Austria's Lukas Pöstlberger, winner of The Traka 200 and The Gralloch and Austrian champion, completes the leading contenders after early reconnaissance in Nannup. Australia fields 11 men, led by national champion Cameron Scott and 2025 champion Mark O'Brien.
With 80% dirt, relentless climbing and early splits expected, Nannup offers gravel specialists their best chance yet to wrest the rainbow jerseys from the road peloton. Whether power, endurance or technical skill prevails on the forest roads will be settled on Saturday for the women and Sunday for the men.