The British way

It may have been born in the USA, but gravel has a British event that offers an alternative to its current direction

Gravel racing began as a countercultural movement, but even as the focus on elite racing has intensified, some events have remained true to these roots.

It’s a broad tent too. At the extreme end of the gravel racing spectrum is a British race that deliberately sets itself up as being in opposition to the direction professional road racing is going, while at the same time harking back to the early editions of the Tour de France.

Gbduro is a 2,000km selfsupported enduro from Land’s End to John O’groats on a combination of road, gravel and singletrack. In 2021 it was won by Mark Beaumont, more famous for his round-the-world record rides. Where Gbduro is different from the early Tours de France, but similar to a lot of American gravel races, is in striving for equality between the sexes.

In the US it is common for a third of the field in gravel races to be women. That was also the case at Gbduro last year, though a more remarkable stat is that half the top ten were women, with Jaimi Wilson third and female riders finishing fifth, seventh, eighth and tenth.

It shows that gravel racing has the potential to mix the best of cycling’s old and new worlds. It just remains to be seen how it develops under the influence of the UCI.