British Gravel Championships

British Gravel Championships 2025

This year’s British Gravel Championships will take place in Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire. Running over 12-14 September, there will be races for Elite, Junior and Masters categories in both the Gravel Race and Time Trial.

Who will be wearing a new jersey after the British Gravel Championships 2025?
Who will be wearing a new jersey after the British Gravel Championships 2025?

Location

With its mix of diverse terrain, breath-taking scenery, and well-maintained trails, organisers Red On hope Dalby Forest will become an iconic venue for gravel cycling. Dalby does have some impressive palmarès when it comes to competitive cycling. It has hosted two rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and the forest’s challenging climbs featured in the opening stage of the Tour de Yorkshire.

As well as being a great cycling destination, Dalby is a Dark Sky Reserve and outdoor playground. So with its combination of landscape, trails and visitor facilities Dalby Forest looks to be an exciting setting for the 2025 British Gravel Championships.

Previous British Gravel Championships have taken place in Suffolk and Dumfries
Previous British Gravel Championships have taken place in Suffolk and Dumfries

Racing

While many are happy to take in the sights at a moderate pace, others just want to race! So what is on offer for the racing whippets? The British Gravel Championships is taking place over three days with plenty on offer for all.

Friday is the first day of the event, the event village opens and registrations start. The afternoon sees a combination of sighting laps and shake-out rides, before the first events of the Championships; the TT. This is a new event for gravel races, although it maybe has its roots in enduro racing?

Masters and Elite riders will be at the British Gravel Championships
Masters and Elite riders will be at the British Gravel Championships

Gravel TT

Riders will set off at twenty second intervals to tackle one lap of a 16.1km circuit with 195m of climbing. The TT will start with riders 45-49 and older starting between 15:00 and 16:30, with all other age groups following after 16:30.

As in road TTs drafting isn’t allowed; not such a big deal off-road, where being sat right behind another rider can be dangerous! Tri-bars will be allowed, so maybe the course isn’t too rough? ‘Puppy-Paw’ style bars are out though, as are E-bikes. You will also need a ANSI/ASTM certified road race helmet; so forget the aero-lid.

The organisers say that the course has a “dynamic mix of fast-rolling terrain, technical sections, and short, punchy climbs.” While pacing will be important, riders will have to temper speed with skill. Course details aren’t out yet, but you can be sure there won’t be much flat tarmac!

Sign on and get your race face on!

British Gravel Championships

The year the mass start races will be spread over two days. Masters and Juniors get to strut their stuff on the Saturday, while the Elites do battle on Sunday. So this will give us ‘normal’ athletes a chance to race and then watch the big beasts do their thing!

As with the TT, course details won’t be released until the spring. What we do know is that it will be a 30km circuit with 500m of climbing that will be tackled four times. This will give your adoring fans multiple chances to cheer you on as you chase that win…

Saturday’s Master’s races will see each age/category split into individual start pens. Each age-group will then be set off separately. Final start order and timings will be confirmed closer to the event. The organisers say that “start orders will be optimised to reduce overtaking on course and to guarantee safe and fair racing for all categories.

British Gravel Championships Categories

The elites will be fighting for that stripey jersey again!

Junior Race
To qualify for the Junior race you must be at least 16 years of age on the day of the event, but not more than 18 on December 31st 2025.

Masters Championship

The Masters Championship will feature the following age groups for both Men and Women: 19-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80+. Allocation to an age group is decided by a rider’s age on 31st December 2025.

Elite Championship Races
Sunday will see a separate Men’s and Women’s race. Racing gets underway with the Men’s Elite race at 09:00 with the Women’s Elite race starting at 13:30.

Not just a race

If you’ve ridden the Gralloch, Raiders Gravel or previous British Gravel Championships, you’ll know they like to keep you entertained. Over the weekend the event village will have plenty of food, drink and music to keep you and your non-cycling supporters happy. Camping is available on-site for tents or camper-vans, to keep you close to the action.

Gravel racing is a rapidly growing part of our sport. With the road scene in the UK suffering from falling numbers, gravel is on the up. Whether it’s down to increased organiser costs, lack of volunteers or riders not feeling safe on our roads, road races are disappearing. Gravel however is bucking the road’s trend. While there aren’t many actual races in the UK – yet – we do have our own British Gravel Championships. So if you can, get out and support the Champs, whether as a racer or fan. See you there?

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

WP-Backgrounds Lite by InoPlugs Web Design and Juwelier Schönmann 1010 Wien