NANNUP — Magnus Bak Klaris delivered a stunning upset at the UCI Gravel World Championships in Nannup, becoming the first gravel specialist to claim the rainbow jersey since the event's inception in 2022 and breaking the domination of road professionals on the top step of the podium. The Danish rider outsprinted defending champion Florian Vermeersch of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Great Britain's Connor Swift in a tight four-up sprint that also included compatriot Mads Würtz Schmidt.
It was an unexpected outcome even for the winner himself. The pre-race favourites among the gravel specialists had been three-time Life Time Grand Prix winner and 2023 Unbound Gravel champion Keegan Swenson and Würtz Schmidt, this year's winner of Unbound and The Traka 360, yet Bak Klaris — not a prolific winner — timed his effort to perfection. "I said before the start that I wanted to to risk it and go for a big result and it was the podium I was thinking about," Bak Klaris told reporters in his new rainbow jersey after the podium ceremony. "So there where a few times where we were in a front group with four, and I was like, 'This is a pretty good chance of going on the podium'. So I was always having the podium in my mind."
The decisive group contained two WorldTour riders in Vermeersch and Netcompany Ineos rider Swift, who was on the podium at the event in 2023, alongside the two Danes. Although racing in national colours, the Gravel Worlds remains a largely individual pursuit, with federations most often not funding the title chase. Würtz Schmidt was supported in Australia by his Specialized Off-Road squad while Bak Klaris paid his own way to Nannup. "To be honest, Mads and I talked before the start, and we were racing individually because we both – I don't know who paid his trip, but I paid my own trip and I qualified myself to come here – and we said, 'Of course, we want to help each other if we can benefit ourselves', but we were not like someone is a domestique rider for another," Bak Klaris said. "So we were racing each our race, and if it could turn out, we could also help each other." That dynamic proved decisive when Würtz Schmidt crashed in a corner with just over 3km to go. "Then Mads crashed and I was like, 'I need to try to take advantage of this. So I tried to wait for him and let the others work," Bak Klaris said. "So I think that was also the nice move, to wait for your countryman, but also a smart move where we could take advantage of being two from the same country and on the same team." Würtz Schmidt rejoined to make it four charging towards the line.
"I usually don't have a really good sprint, so I just tried to find the wheel, and I think I was pretty lucky with how Connor Swift did the final," Bak Klaris told broadcaster SBS. "I could just stay in the wheel, pretty much the last kick, and then have a small last kick." Swift led out early and Bak Klaris sat in his wheel before delivering the final kick to take the world title. The victory built on strong form and a course that suited him, having won the UCI Gravel World Series race Gravel Grit n Grind in the lead-in.
"Worlds is a race where you think it's almost too big, it's so difficult to make a good result here, but it's it's also a big chance," Bak Klaris said, with friends and family watching on the sidelines in Nannup. Now the rainbow jersey will be on regular display, with the new world champion planning to race the UCI Gravel World Series, the Gravel Earth Series and in the United States at events like Unbound. "I have no idea," he said with a chuckle when asked what the win means. "I have to to find out what it means. I've never tried it before, so yeah, we will see." The result came on a day when Australia also celebrated Cromwell's brave eighth in Nannup.