NANNUP — With fewer than 1,000 residents in this serene Blackwood Valley bush town in Western Australia, Nannup is preparing to host around 1,000 riders for Saturday and Sunday's UCI Gravel World Championships on a challenging, undulating course through tree-lined gravel roads.
Race director Stephen Gallagher said the isolation is central to the event's appeal. "Nannup is isolated to an extent, but that's the reason why it has the best gravel in the world," Gallagher told Cyclingnews. "You know you can't do that in the centre of Brussels, for example." He added: "Let's say challenge is also a unifying calling card for all of the team."
"It's not like you've got it all at your fingertips so we have to bring some things in from either abroad or out of state," Gallagher said. "But we are doing it, and we are doing it really, really well. And yes, it gives us a lot of heartache, but the other side is that we do it because we've got a huge, a beautiful location to show the world and we wouldn't have it without also having all those challenges." The logistical hurdles include accommodation, equipment and developing a communications network for safety and broadcast. The event has been five years in the planning, led by the organising group behind SEVEN, which joined the UCI Gravel World Series in its inaugural year in 2022 and was announced as host of the 2026 Gravel World Championships that same year. That event has since grown to host more than double the number of riders expected at the World Championships on a single day of racing. "I would say the most exciting and gratifying part of my role is being able to see this team of people delivering a World Championships because they're some of the most experienced, knowledgeable and passionate people from all different walks of life," Gallagher said.
Support has come locally, regionally and at state level, with accommodation expanded through a special event campground at the Nannup recreation centre and the broader region acting as a hub, with beachside Busselton about 60km away serving as a pre-event base. Start-finish barriers and welcoming signs were already in place at the start of the week, with the Nannup Brewery turned into Factor House and the event village growing by the hour as streets fill with riders on reconnaissance rides and locals embrace the influx ahead of the rainbow jersey races.