Highlands Gravel Classic

UCI Gravel World Series Events
The UCI Gravel World Series is composed of individual cycling for all gravel cycling competitions. A UCI Gravel World Series event is a competitive mass participation event with a mass start (or in waves with intervals between the start groups) which is fully timed for all participants and splits results per age group and gender. The riders have to respect road traffic regulations at all times. The UCI Gravel World Championships is the last event of the series, open to riders qualified through the series.  List of World Championship locations through 2027 - https://ucigravelworldseries.com/en/world-championships/.

4/11/25 Announcement - The 2025 WCC will be held in the Zuid-Limburg region of the Netherlands on 11 and 12 October.

Participation Rights

• Licenses - No license is required except the Elite category
  • Exception of:
    • Any rider who has during the current year been a member of a team registered with the UCI.
    • Any rider who has taken part in a World Championships, the Olympic Games, Continental Games, Regional Games, the Commonwealth Games, or a World Cup during the current year
    • Any rider who has scored UCI points in the year of the World Championships
  • Note: Riders who qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships, must hold a valid license issued by their respective national federation (day licenses being excluded), must hold a UCI ID and must be adequately insured against accidents and civil responsibility in the country in which the UCI Gravel World Championships are held.
• Bikes - Riders may use any type of bike (road bike, mountain bike, city bike, hybrid bike, cross bike, etc.) with the exception of tandem, recumbent bikes or time trial road bikes which are forbidden. Of Note - the UCI Gravel World Championships will have additional restrictions and riders should check WCC site for further restrictions and requirements.
• Competion / Awards:
  • Elite Category (See Note below) both women and men.  This category is reserved for riders who hold and/or must purchase a UCI license to compete along with if a rider would like to start in the Elite category at the Gravel World Championships.
  • Age Group Categories - both women and men:
    • 14 - 18 (this category is NOT a qualifying category)
    • 19 – 34
    • 35 – 39
    • 40 – 44
    • 45 – 49
    • 50 – 54
    • 55 – 59
    • 60 – 64
    • 65 – 69
    • 70 – 74
    • 75 – 79
    • Etc. (any further 5-year category for which riders have entered)
  • Age Calculation - Groups applicable to the UCI Gravel World Series are defined by the rider’s age on December 31st of the year of the qualifier event. Riders who qualify past the World Championships for next year’s World Championships and change age group in the following year will automatically take their qualification to the next age group and do not need to qualify again in their new age group in the year of the World Championships.
  • Awards - as per the regulations applied for the UCI Gravel World Championships, medals and titles will be awarded for men and/or women as soon as 1 rider is registered in the respective 5-year Age Group or Elite categories. 
  • Note - Elite: Riders of a UCI registered team must start mandatory in the elite category while club level Elites have the choice between the Elite category or their respective Age Group.

Qualification for the UCI Gravel World Championships:
As per the official qualification system for the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships, each UCI Gravel World Series event grants qualification rights for the UCI Gravel World Championships for those riders finishing in the first 25% of their category. The 25% is calculated based on the number of starters in each category, and not on the number of riders having finished the race. The 25% is rounded to the highest number to determine the exact number of qualified riders per category (for instance: with 26 starters, 6.5 are eligible for qualification, meaning that the first 7 will be invited for the World Championships). In addition, the first three riders of each official category will qualify directly for the World Championships, independently of the number of starters in that age group. Riders must finish the race to gain qualification.

Elite riders from a UCI registered team must always take part in the elite category. Elite riders with a national level license have the choice to start in the elite category or in their respective age groups but must make that choice prior to the race. Riders signing up for the elite category can only qualify for the elite category at the UCI Gravel World Championships. Riders signing up for the age group categories can only qualify for the age group categories at the UCI Gravel World Championships. NOTE: If a rider who started with the elites didn’t qualify in the elite category, that rider can’t claim qualification in their age group if their finish time would be within the top 25% of their age category.

For all other methods of qualification (wild cards, masters national champions, etc.), please consult the official qualification system for the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships.

The names of riders having gained qualification through the UCI Gravel World Series will be communicated on the UCI Gravel World Series website and will receive an official email from the UCI inviting them to register for the UCI Gravel World Championships via the dedicated online registration portal.