Welcome to 2025, and be a part of us as we discover what may be new and thrilling on the earth of gravel biking this 12 months.
However right here’s the twist: we’re not enjoying it protected. We’re not being coy or holding again—no, this 12 months, we’re being daring, loud, and we’ll in all probability be improper a couple of factor or two.
However that’s the enjoyable of it. Predictions ought to be about daring guesses, not protected bets. So, with out additional delay, listed below are six more and more daring predictions for gravel biking in 2025.
Keegan Swenson will take his fourth crown on the Life Time Grand Prix
(Picture credit score: USA Biking)
Alright, we’ll admit it—this primary one’s a fairly protected guess however maintain off on the eye-rolls. This “protected” decide is the right stepping stone for getting bolder as we dive deeper into the checklist.
That stated, Keegan Swenson successful the Life Time Grand Prix in 2025 might not be as sure as you may suppose —and that’s extra to do with the collection than Swenson himself.
New in 2025, the collection will sport just a few adjustments which may rely in opposition to Swenson. Firstly, there can be much less racing at altitude. With Rad Filth Fest and Crusher within the Tushar nixed from the collection line-up, Swenson has two fewer alternatives to showcase his dominance within the mountains. Leadville stays as the one high-altitude race.
Secondly, there may be extra worldwide expertise. The collection has added a number of former WorldTour professionals to the lineup in an effort to make the collection extra worldly, which undoubtedly raises the potential energy within the males’s area.
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Nonetheless, the brand new faces aren’t recognized mountain bikers, and three of the collection occasions can be fought on the gnarly stuff the place Swenson’s background serves him effectively.
Whereas there are different improbable mountain bike athletes within the line-up, few appear to have the measure of each disciplines to the extent Swenson continues to carry. What’s extra, if we will study something from Swenson through the years, it’s that when a problem arises, few are higher at tackling it with the identical degree of consideration and innovation as the person from Utah.
One of the best gravel race tyres are mountain bike tyres
(Picture credit score: Snowy Mountain Pictures)
There can be extra on this matter on this web site quickly, however it’s an open secret that the definition of what a gravel tyre is has already modified. The 38-42mm tyres which have reigned supreme in years previous are actually gone from the entrance of races. Inside a 12 months, tyres have ballooned to 50mm and past. Given the success and the vocal evangelising of some prime names, that development is right here to remain, no less than for the season forward.
Whereas some drop bar bikes can now accommodate a 2.25-inch tyre, these are nonetheless the exception. Nonetheless, 2.25-inch tyre choices have gotten extra broadly out there, and this 12 months, it appears the reply to the “finest gravel tyre” query is solely: the largest one you’ll be able to run.
Unbiased races will achieve reputation
(Picture credit score: 241Photography)
Gravel racing has constructed itself on identify manufacturers. Organisations like Life Time, BWR and SBT GRVL have constructed dependable manufacturers with repeatable codecs, and now placed on a number of occasions all year long and across the globe. These occasions have been essential to the development of the game and its recognition overseas.
Does that imply that the massive collection will diminish? That’s much less clear. Life Time has, undoubtedly, a number of gravel occasions backed with the recognition to maintain them round for some time. But the destiny of much less widespread occasions like Crusher within the Tushar and the Rad Filth Fest are much less clear, particularly now that they have been booted off the Life Time Grand Prix calendar.
SBT GRVL persists, however yearly, the race faces stronger headwinds in its native Routt County. And its Finnish and Australian offshoots have but to cement themselves on the worldwide calendar the way in which the unique occasion has.
But, past the massive names, there are many improbable races which can be run by native organisations and are beginning to earn a loyal following. Races just like the Oregon Path Gravel Grinder, Gravel Worlds, FoCo Fondo, and Mid South proceed to construct momentum and add new features to their appeal.
As people examine off the massive challenges and proceed to put money into the game, these impartial races will proceed to see their reputation tick up.
Unorthodox tools will proceed to push the restrict of favor and performance within the pursuit of features
Keegan Swenson used drop bars on his mountain bike on the 2024 Leadville 100 race
(Picture credit score: Life Time)
One of many enduring debates of gravel biking within the years previous has been aerobars. Fortunately, for the protection of many and the sanctity of drop bar bikes, that debate has principally been settled. They’ve made their manner out of most mass-start gravel races. But tech debates and what belongs or what doesn’t in gravel races won’t go away.
Drop bars on mountain bikes, suspension on gravel bikes, helmets, fairings, water containers, tall socks, and deep dish wheels are all a part of the fray as folks type by means of methods to get sooner within the largest gravel races.
Nothing is more likely to be as controversial as aero bar extensions, however ludicrous aesthetics do get the folks fired up ( you, Giro time trial helmet).
We can’t wait to see what model guidelines can be damaged within the pursuit of velocity in 2025. And we’re sure we’ll have heaps to speak about. Gravel is, in spite of everything, biking’s Wild West.
Reside protection will take a leap in gravel race protection
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
When Gravel Worlds —the annual race in Nebraska, not the UCI occasion— introduced it will have wall-to-wall stay protection of its race, many people had been sceptical. Who’s going to wish to watch a 150-mile gravel race by means of the farm fields of Nebraska? On paper, that proposition sounded, effectively, boring. However in actuality, it’s fascinating and refreshing.
Whereas I didn’t watch the race in its entirety in 2024, it was good to drop into the stream all through the day to comply with the motion. I noticed how the race performed out in each massive and small moments. I used to be delighted to see how completely different riders caught my eye and to expertise the trivia of the endurance take a look at of gravel racing — one thing you aren’t getting within the snippets of race recaps and Instagram tales.
Now, Nebraska is blessed with just a few vital issues. At first, the state gives wonderful cell and web protection, which makes stay streaming attainable—one thing different locations can’t at all times replicate. Nonetheless, Gravel Worlds proved that stay protection of gravel racing can convey followers into the motion in a significant manner, and that’s one thing with plain potential.
Unbound’s race techniques will reshape gravel racing – for higher or for worse
The ladies’s race at Unbound Gravel in 2024 got here all the way down to an exhilarating seven-person dash.
(Picture credit score: Snowy Mountain Pictures)
Eventually 12 months’s Unbound occasion, seven girls got here to the road collectively. Every rider had her personal sponsors and her personal targets and had set out 200 miles earlier looking for her personal glory. Or no less than, that’s how it will have been if the race had adopted the script of gravel racing up till that day.
But, within the ending straight, one thing else occurred. American Sarah Sturm seemed to be conducting a leadout for Dutchwoman Geerike Schreurs, a rider who’s a part of the Specialised household however on a special workforce.
In street racing, leadouts are commonplace however in gravel racing, and Unbound particularly, the racing has traditionally by no means performed out that manner. Crew dynamics aren’t actually a factor – yet- however odds are they are going to be in some crucial circumstances. With speak of sponsors providing race bonuses and prize purses rising in gravel races, we’re more likely to see extra quasi-team techniques and dynamics.
We are saying “quasi” as a result of gravel racing isn’t suited to workforce techniques as we all know it. For one, there aren’t the assets (but) to assist domestiques. Within the privateering panorama of gravel, it is nonetheless very a lot each rider for themselves. Second, the technicality of the programs and the sheer attrition of the races do not enable for a similar numerical benefits as street racing does.
Unbound, nevertheless, seems to be the exception. The status, sponsor incentives, and publicity are sufficiently big that riders are prepared to type allegiances, even when it means lacking out on the win themselves. What’s extra, the depth of expertise at this race has gotten to the purpose the place group racing has develop into the norm and having an ally (even in the event you’re not sporting the identical equipment) on the finish of the race is a extra dependable chance.
Unbound continues to be the testing floor for improvements – in tech and techniques alike. If one thing is profitable right here, it units the precedent for races to come back. So preserve your eyes peeled at Unbound as we’re more likely to see new developments in race techniques this 12 months. After which, watch as these evolutions start to creep in elsewhere within the calendar. If that’s the case, massive adjustments –and large existential, ‘spirit of gravel’-sort debates – will doubtless comply with.