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UEC European Championships: ‘I just really love winning’ – Demi Vollering claims solo elite women’s victory for dominant Dutch team
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The gravelliest UCI Gravel World Championships of them all – A detailed look at the ‘perfect storm’ of terrain that riders will face this October in Western Australia
As it happened: Late crash sees Dutch dominance continue in women’s UCI Gravel World Championships on muddy course
Elite women tackle 3,179m of elevation gain across 125.6km with 84% gravel en route to rainbow-jersey victory
(Image credit: © SWPix)
Results
The final podium sees Vos take another rainbow jersey with Klöser in second and Hartog in third.
It wasn’t to be for Rosa Klöser as Marianne Vos had the power and technical skills in the important moment to get clear to take her 15 career world title across so many disciplines.
Magnaldi took fifth ahead of Villafañe, Lützelschwab, Cromwell, Serne and Haley Smith rounding out the top 10.
Larissa Hartog beats Nele Laing to take the bronze medal in a day dominated by the Netherlands and Germany.
Rosa Klöser takes an exceptional second place but the crash at the top of Tank 7 climb was one setback too much.
Marianne Vos wins the Gravel World Championships title 2026!
1km to go for Vos as the Dutch look like they will continue their dominance in the gravel worlds as she looks like she is going to be the first rider to get a second gravel world title.
3km to go for Vos.
The pea gravel has dried out and we are seeing how chaotic it can be when dry. Vos is now riding away to the victory.
Klöser is back riding but Vos is now clear with it all downhill to the finish.
Klöser is just riding Vos to the finish. You would think that Vos would easily win in a sprint but it has been a very long day out today.
6km to go and they are on some very rutted section. This is the last kicker before the finish with Klöser on the front again trying to break the legs of Vos.
It is easy to forget that Klöser has had a puncture on the first climb of the day, got back on then had a stick in the rear mech and got back on again. Whereas, Vos has been active but largely in the wheels always very close to the front.
8km to go and the gap back to Laing and Hartog is 52″.
It is now almost all downhill to Nannup with an average speed up around 27kph today. This has been a brutal day out.
Klöser and Vos working together well since they crested the previous climb with around 35″ to the chasers.
They have taken on a short asphalt section before heading onto the final part of gravel today with the second part of the Folly climb to come. Klöser looked the strongest on the climb but Vos was able to match her.
Out front it is a Dutch rider and a German rider with the chasing duo being a Dutch rider and a German rider. The two nations have certainly dominated this race with Klöser and Vos holding 32″ on Laing and Hartog.
The sunshine has come out again after much of the race spent in the driving rain.
Klöser dropped Vos at Sea Otter Europe back in late September, but this is has been a very different race and the rainbow jersey is on the line.
Hartog makes it to Laing in the chase at 27″ back from Klöser and Vos.
Laing invested a lot to try and get to the leaders but Klöser and Vos now properly push clear.
Laing is riding hard to get back to her teammate of Klöser along with Vos as they negotiate riding around the age groupers.
Klöser, Vos and Villafañe closing but now Klöser and Vos go clear of the rest.
Cromwell heads back onto the gravel and onto the final climb of Folly Farm.
Serne, Frain and Laing get back in after the pace lulls again.
Frain, Laing and Serne are struggling to follow the wheels but Villafañe is still there with a brand new wheel on her bike.
Somehow Sofía Gómez Villafañe (Argentina) has chased all the way back to the front of the race again after being over 2 minutes down.
Laing is trying to get clear but Vos is closing her down again.
Magnaldi has done a bit acceleration and has dragged the leaders back again.
Hartog is brought back as they take some fresh bottles and gels on a rare bit of asphalt.
Hartog now uses her pace and gaps the rest of the group as her teammates look towards the others to chase her down.
The leaders are now descending down towards Nannup for the first time since the start before they start one final loop with two more climbs to come.
Hartog is now setting a hard tempo likely for Vos who is clearly one of, if not the, strongest in the race today.
Bit of an issue for Magnaldi who had to unclip and stop on a hairpin. She has got going again but will need to spend a bit of energy.
Cromwell just being distanced from the chase group led by fellow Australian Frain.
Cromwell, Frain, Lützelschwab and Serne are getting closer to the leaders again. This could actually come together again after all that selection on the Ellis Creek climb.
The leaders are going much faster than the camera bikes on this descent and have left the bike behind. Cromwell pass them as well as she is still chasing now with teammate Frain.
Laing has two World Series wins to her name with both German races going her way. Vos just seems to win almost everything she races. Klöser has had a mixed gravel year with disappointing mechanical filled Leadville 100 and Unbound but she has been superb on the road. Hartog also had a great season that started long ago in cyclocross.
Fortunately, the age groupers have been dropped by the elite women here.
Klöser just clipped the back wheel of Hartog but both stay upright.
Some of the age group men and women are sitting in at the back of the lead group. This isn’t what the pros want at all as it is distracting and can be very dangerous.
The five lead riders are riding well together but they are coming up against some of the age groupers. Fortunately the tracks are wide and there’s plenty of space for the pros.
Hartog and Magnaldi make it back to Klöser, Laing and Vos.
Cromwell is caught and immediately dropped with Hartog and Magnaldi.
Cromwell caught making it a lead group of six riders with 58km to go.
The chasing group of five have closed in on Cromwell rapidly on the Ellis Creek climb, the longest and hardest of the day.
Five riders break clear of the chase group as it splits up on this latest climb. Laing, Vos, Klöser, Magnaldi and Hartog.
Interestingly, Villafañe is out of the back of the chase group alongside Britain’s Johnson. Something must have happened as she looked so strong on the climbs.
Laing and Vos have gapped the rest in the chase showing their descending skills but Cromwell has used the terrain to get her gap back to 1’17” after it dropped to 52″ on the climb.
Now on a very steep and technical descent on this extremely slippery pea gravel. Cromwell just overshot a hairpin and may have lost a couple of seconds.
Now that Klöser is back in the group the Germans return to the front of the chase group with Oosterwoud struggling again.
Cromwell is riding really well and has 1’21” on the chasers with Magnaldi leading the chase group yet again. Klöser gets back in as well.
Now time for the Lewana climb, 1.5km at 5.3%.
The Dutch have numbers but are not chasing with the Germans taking the responsibility through a very rocky and puddle filled section as Cromwell opens her gap to 1’17”.
Meanwhile, Cromwell has 27″ gap on the chase group.
There was a very nasty rut that they hit and it just pushed Schreurs and Moolman-Pasio out with the former kicked to the side and into the rocks. Both look to be out of the race.
Cromwell drags her advantage out to 19″ and is now out of sight from the chase group as the Aussie goes solo in the Worlds, on home soil, in her final race.
Cromwell heads onto the descent, probably the longest downhill of the entire race.
Magnaldi is investing a lot of energy on the front of the favourites group without dropping anyone but they stall again and allow Cromwell a bit more gap.
Vos tried a move but she was heavily marked. Cromwell continues to press on as the chase group starts to sit up a bit more.
Cromwell is leading the chasing group back to the front group as the leader’s pace lulls. That was a big effort from the chasers with Oosterwoud still struggling to hold the wheel but we now have a lead group of around 16 riders.
And the gap is closing. 15″ between the leaders and chasers as riders like Cromwell, Oosterwoud and Flora Johnson (Great Britain) may get back in.
The Shale climb appears to have favoured the chase group as the gap drops to 22″, but this will be based on the motorbikes so we take that gap with a pinch of salt.
Onto Shale climb of 800m at 6.8% which is being done very swiftly as Villafañe and Magnaldi lead the way for now.
The gap between the lead group including Vos, Villafañe, Klöser, Moolman-Pasio and the rest have a minute on the group including Cromwell, Wright and Oosterwoud.
Bit of grass racing turns into mud and then some more traditional looking gravel for a very short period before returning back to the pea gravel very soon.
On the Adina climb now, 1.1km long at 4% average.
Great crowds around the feed area after a period on private land.
Through the feed zone now as multiple riders take on fresh bottles, bars and gels.
Cromwell, Wright, Oosterwoud are now around 45″ down on the leaders.
Wright did all that work on the toughest gradients but has not made the group.
The Dutch still just about have four riders in this select group with Hartog and Geerike Schreurs just holding on.
Cromwell also out of the back with Denmark’s Janni Spangsberg Schori losing tough as well.
Wendy Oosterwoud (Netherlands), Gravel World Series leader, has been gapped just before the hardest section. That is a big surprise.
Klöser flies pass British duo of Nutt and Hermolle as they have to negotiate their way around one of the camera bikes that has got stuck in the mud on the gradients of Brockman.
Wright is ripping this peloton to bits on this climb but Klöser is about to make it back on.
Klöser has fought very well and is about 10″ off the back of the lead group and is picking up riders who are losing touch.
The climb is 2.5km at 8% with kicks well over 15%.
Onto the Brockman climb with Wright and Magnaldi upping the tempo with the rain starting yet again. You won’t win the race here but you can certainly lose it.
Wright, Hartog, Cromwell and Erica Magnaldi (Italy) lead the peloton on this rolling terrain.
Some info coming from the start… The age groupers are heading out in waves now. Some were so keen to ensure a good spot in the start line that they were sitting in the ground with their bikes in their start box well over an hour before their start time.
The sun is back out now but the gravel is very wet and slippy.
Onto the first descent of the day now and the pace shot up to make sure they were in a good position with Vos, Sophie Wright (Great Britain) and Larissa Hartog (Netherlands) leading the way.
Bloor is caught by the Dutch led peloton that has been whittled right down on the first climb.
Inside 1km from the top of the Killarney climb as Bloor holds a very slender lead.
The peloton has shrunk quite a lot on this first climb with Bloor being reeled back in very soon.
Bloor’s gap has now reduced significantly as she continues to tap out a rhythm that suits her but she now just has 30″ on the chasers.
One unexpected rider on the startlist for the elite women was Peta Mullens (Australia) who was expecting to ride the age group of 35-39 but received an email a few days ago saying she will have to race the elite due to rule changes coming into force…
Multiple riders now struggling to hold onto the peloton as Bloor has 1’02” on the pack.
The climb Killarney which is 5.4km of very undulating riding and an average of 3.4% but with some nasty kickers.
Mutsumi Hara (Japan) and Elizabeth Hermolle (Great Britain) early off the back but it is a tough start and there’s a long way to go as the rain begins to fall again.
Mud is already caking the backs of the riders as the riders are on the first climb of the day now.
Bloor’s wheel skipping and skidding all over the place forcing her to freewheel. All the riders have only been able to recon some of the route due to some of the sections being on private property including the first climb of the day.
The peloton hit the gravel and immediately things change as the pace shoots up with the Dutch crowding the front still. 5km to the first climb of the day.
Bloor has a gap of just 12″ on the peloton as the gravel edges closer and closer.
12 riders down as DNFs including Germany’s Romy Kaspar and the Netherlands’ Riejanne Markus.
It is a fast start on the asphalt to begin with the tiny peloton bunched together for the moment but when they hit the gravel it’ll likely immediately split up.
Australian gravel champion and winner here for the SEVEN Gravel race in Nannup earlier in the year, Tiffany Cromwell, is another rider who will be hanging up the wheels after this race.
This will be the final race in the career of South African WorldTour rider Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio despite having a cold.
It is being said that this is a ‘true’ gravel course with 85% of the course on gravel with intense gradients and a huge amount of climbing. The chance for the specialists to finally have a pure gravel rider in the rainbow bands after road stars have dominated the first four editions.
The riders are beginning to line up on the start line in Nannup with Wendy Oosterwoud of the Netherlands wearing number one.
The gravel is like nothing seen in European gravel racing and is unique to the area in Australia. Pea gravel is what it says on the tin, gravel that is shaped like peas. It can been incredibly slippery when dry but when wet it can be compacted down and become less notable with tyre choice being crucial.
The course itself is extremely challenging. While it is rather short, in the 125.6km of racing there are 3180 metres of elevation gain with the climbs not allow immediate rest after the summits are they tend to plateau for a while afterwards.
Racing is due to begin at 10:10 local time in Nannup. Roughly 30 minutes from now.
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live updates of the women’s UCI World Gravel Championships 2026 from Nannup, Western Australia.
The temperatures have been high for much of the week but it is a cool and fresh 16°C, unusually low for spring time in the area.
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1‘I just had nothing to lose’ – Tiffany Cromwell delivers feisty farewell in Nannup at home UCI Gravel World Championships
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2
‘At the end of the day, you can only try’ – Despite puncture and a late crash, Rosa Klöser claws back silver at UCI Gravel World Championships
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3
‘We cannot keep accepting the fact that guys are getting injured or literally dying’ – Riders stage remarkable protest at Il Lombardia as Evenepoel delivers speech on safety
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4
Il Lombardia 2026 LIVE – Ben O’Connor and Antonio Tiberi part of a strong 14-man day’s break
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5
Matt Beers ready to chase ‘a medal of any kind’ as he picks shot at Gravel World Championships glory over Life Time Grand Prix
As it happened: Late crash sees Dutch dominance continue in women’s UCI Gravel World Championships on muddy course
Elite women tackle 3,179m of elevation gain across 125.6km with 84% gravel en route to rainbow-jersey victory
(Image credit: © SWPix)
As it happened: Late crash sees Dutch dominance continue in women’s UCI Gravel World Championships on muddy course
Elite women tackle 3,179m of elevation gain across 125.6km with 84% gravel en route to rainbow-jersey victory
(Image credit: © SWPix)
Results
The final podium sees Vos take another rainbow jersey with Klöser in second and Hartog in third.
It wasn’t to be for Rosa Klöser as Marianne Vos had the power and technical skills in the important moment to get clear to take her 15 career world title across so many disciplines.
Magnaldi took fifth ahead of Villafañe, Lützelschwab, Cromwell, Serne and Haley Smith rounding out the top 10.
Larissa Hartog beats Nele Laing to take the bronze medal in a day dominated by the Netherlands and Germany.
Rosa Klöser takes an exceptional second place but the crash at the top of Tank 7 climb was one setback too much.
Marianne Vos wins the Gravel World Championships title 2026!
1km to go for Vos as the Dutch look like they will continue their dominance in the gravel worlds as she looks like she is going to be the first rider to get a second gravel world title.
3km to go for Vos.
The pea gravel has dried out and we are seeing how chaotic it can be when dry. Vos is now riding away to the victory.
Klöser is back riding but Vos is now clear with it all downhill to the finish.
Klöser is just riding Vos to the finish. You would think that Vos would easily win in a sprint but it has been a very long day out today.
6km to go and they are on some very rutted section. This is the last kicker before the finish with Klöser on the front again trying to break the legs of Vos.
It is easy to forget that Klöser has had a puncture on the first climb of the day, got back on then had a stick in the rear mech and got back on again. Whereas, Vos has been active but largely in the wheels always very close to the front.
8km to go and the gap back to Laing and Hartog is 52″.
It is now almost all downhill to Nannup with an average speed up around 27kph today. This has been a brutal day out.
Klöser and Vos working together well since they crested the previous climb with around 35″ to the chasers.
They have taken on a short asphalt section before heading onto the final part of gravel today with the second part of the Folly climb to come. Klöser looked the strongest on the climb but Vos was able to match her.
Out front it is a Dutch rider and a German rider with the chasing duo being a Dutch rider and a German rider. The two nations have certainly dominated this race with Klöser and Vos holding 32″ on Laing and Hartog.
The sunshine has come out again after much of the race spent in the driving rain.
Klöser dropped Vos at Sea Otter Europe back in late September, but this is has been a very different race and the rainbow jersey is on the line.
Hartog makes it to Laing in the chase at 27″ back from Klöser and Vos.
Laing invested a lot to try and get to the leaders but Klöser and Vos now properly push clear.
Laing is riding hard to get back to her teammate of Klöser along with Vos as they negotiate riding around the age groupers.
Klöser, Vos and Villafañe closing but now Klöser and Vos go clear of the rest.
Cromwell heads back onto the gravel and onto the final climb of Folly Farm.
Serne, Frain and Laing get back in after the pace lulls again.
Frain, Laing and Serne are struggling to follow the wheels but Villafañe is still there with a brand new wheel on her bike.
Somehow Sofía Gómez Villafañe (Argentina) has chased all the way back to the front of the race again after being over 2 minutes down.
Laing is trying to get clear but Vos is closing her down again.
Magnaldi has done a bit acceleration and has dragged the leaders back again.
Hartog is brought back as they take some fresh bottles and gels on a rare bit of asphalt.
Hartog now uses her pace and gaps the rest of the group as her teammates look towards the others to chase her down.
The leaders are now descending down towards Nannup for the first time since the start before they start one final loop with two more climbs to come.
Hartog is now setting a hard tempo likely for Vos who is clearly one of, if not the, strongest in the race today.
Bit of an issue for Magnaldi who had to unclip and stop on a hairpin. She has got going again but will need to spend a bit of energy.
Cromwell just being distanced from the chase group led by fellow Australian Frain.
Cromwell, Frain, Lützelschwab and Serne are getting closer to the leaders again. This could actually come together again after all that selection on the Ellis Creek climb.
The leaders are going much faster than the camera bikes on this descent and have left the bike behind. Cromwell pass them as well as she is still chasing now with teammate Frain.
Laing has two World Series wins to her name with both German races going her way. Vos just seems to win almost everything she races. Klöser has had a mixed gravel year with disappointing mechanical filled Leadville 100 and Unbound but she has been superb on the road. Hartog also had a great season that started long ago in cyclocross.
Fortunately, the age groupers have been dropped by the elite women here.
Klöser just clipped the back wheel of Hartog but both stay upright.
Some of the age group men and women are sitting in at the back of the lead group. This isn’t what the pros want at all as it is distracting and can be very dangerous.
The five lead riders are riding well together but they are coming up against some of the age groupers. Fortunately the tracks are wide and there’s plenty of space for the pros.
Hartog and Magnaldi make it back to Klöser, Laing and Vos.
Cromwell is caught and immediately dropped with Hartog and Magnaldi.
Cromwell caught making it a lead group of six riders with 58km to go.
The chasing group of five have closed in on Cromwell rapidly on the Ellis Creek climb, the longest and hardest of the day.
Five riders break clear of the chase group as it splits up on this latest climb. Laing, Vos, Klöser, Magnaldi and Hartog.
Interestingly, Villafañe is out of the back of the chase group alongside Britain’s Johnson. Something must have happened as she looked so strong on the climbs.
Laing and Vos have gapped the rest in the chase showing their descending skills but Cromwell has used the terrain to get her gap back to 1’17” after it dropped to 52″ on the climb.
Now on a very steep and technical descent on this extremely slippery pea gravel. Cromwell just overshot a hairpin and may have lost a couple of seconds.
Now that Klöser is back in the group the Germans return to the front of the chase group with Oosterwoud struggling again.
Cromwell is riding really well and has 1’21” on the chasers with Magnaldi leading the chase group yet again. Klöser gets back in as well.
Now time for the Lewana climb, 1.5km at 5.3%.
The Dutch have numbers but are not chasing with the Germans taking the responsibility through a very rocky and puddle filled section as Cromwell opens her gap to 1’17”.
Meanwhile, Cromwell has 27″ gap on the chase group.
There was a very nasty rut that they hit and it just pushed Schreurs and Moolman-Pasio out with the former kicked to the side and into the rocks. Both look to be out of the race.
Cromwell drags her advantage out to 19″ and is now out of sight from the chase group as the Aussie goes solo in the Worlds, on home soil, in her final race.
Cromwell heads onto the descent, probably the longest downhill of the entire race.
Magnaldi is investing a lot of energy on the front of the favourites group without dropping anyone but they stall again and allow Cromwell a bit more gap.
Vos tried a move but she was heavily marked. Cromwell continues to press on as the chase group starts to sit up a bit more.
Cromwell is leading the chasing group back to the front group as the leader’s pace lulls. That was a big effort from the chasers with Oosterwoud still struggling to hold the wheel but we now have a lead group of around 16 riders.
And the gap is closing. 15″ between the leaders and chasers as riders like Cromwell, Oosterwoud and Flora Johnson (Great Britain) may get back in.
The Shale climb appears to have favoured the chase group as the gap drops to 22″, but this will be based on the motorbikes so we take that gap with a pinch of salt.
Onto Shale climb of 800m at 6.8% which is being done very swiftly as Villafañe and Magnaldi lead the way for now.
The gap between the lead group including Vos, Villafañe, Klöser, Moolman-Pasio and the rest have a minute on the group including Cromwell, Wright and Oosterwoud.
Bit of grass racing turns into mud and then some more traditional looking gravel for a very short period before returning back to the pea gravel very soon.
On the Adina climb now, 1.1km long at 4% average.
Great crowds around the feed area after a period on private land.
Through the feed zone now as multiple riders take on fresh bottles, bars and gels.
Cromwell, Wright, Oosterwoud are now around 45″ down on the leaders.
Wright did all that work on the toughest gradients but has not made the group.
The Dutch still just about have four riders in this select group with Hartog and Geerike Schreurs just holding on.
Cromwell also out of the back with Denmark’s Janni Spangsberg Schori losing tough as well.
Wendy Oosterwoud (Netherlands), Gravel World Series leader, has been gapped just before the hardest section. That is a big surprise.
Klöser flies pass British duo of Nutt and Hermolle as they have to negotiate their way around one of the camera bikes that has got stuck in the mud on the gradients of Brockman.
Wright is ripping this peloton to bits on this climb but Klöser is about to make it back on.
Klöser has fought very well and is about 10″ off the back of the lead group and is picking up riders who are losing touch.
The climb is 2.5km at 8% with kicks well over 15%.
Onto the Brockman climb with Wright and Magnaldi upping the tempo with the rain starting yet again. You won’t win the race here but you can certainly lose it.
Wright, Hartog, Cromwell and Erica Magnaldi (Italy) lead the peloton on this rolling terrain.
Some info coming from the start… The age groupers are heading out in waves now. Some were so keen to ensure a good spot in the start line that they were sitting in the ground with their bikes in their start box well over an hour before their start time.
The sun is back out now but the gravel is very wet and slippy.
Onto the first descent of the day now and the pace shot up to make sure they were in a good position with Vos, Sophie Wright (Great Britain) and Larissa Hartog (Netherlands) leading the way.
Bloor is caught by the Dutch led peloton that has been whittled right down on the first climb.
Inside 1km from the top of the Killarney climb as Bloor holds a very slender lead.
The peloton has shrunk quite a lot on this first climb with Bloor being reeled back in very soon.
Bloor’s gap has now reduced significantly as she continues to tap out a rhythm that suits her but she now just has 30″ on the chasers.
One unexpected rider on the startlist for the elite women was Peta Mullens (Australia) who was expecting to ride the age group of 35-39 but received an email a few days ago saying she will have to race the elite due to rule changes coming into force…
Multiple riders now struggling to hold onto the peloton as Bloor has 1’02” on the pack.
The climb Killarney which is 5.4km of very undulating riding and an average of 3.4% but with some nasty kickers.
Mutsumi Hara (Japan) and Elizabeth Hermolle (Great Britain) early off the back but it is a tough start and there’s a long way to go as the rain begins to fall again.
Mud is already caking the backs of the riders as the riders are on the first climb of the day now.
Bloor’s wheel skipping and skidding all over the place forcing her to freewheel. All the riders have only been able to recon some of the route due to some of the sections being on private property including the first climb of the day.
The peloton hit the gravel and immediately things change as the pace shoots up with the Dutch crowding the front still. 5km to the first climb of the day.
Bloor has a gap of just 12″ on the peloton as the gravel edges closer and closer.
12 riders down as DNFs including Germany’s Romy Kaspar and the Netherlands’ Riejanne Markus.
It is a fast start on the asphalt to begin with the tiny peloton bunched together for the moment but when they hit the gravel it’ll likely immediately split up.
Australian gravel champion and winner here for the SEVEN Gravel race in Nannup earlier in the year, Tiffany Cromwell, is another rider who will be hanging up the wheels after this race.
This will be the final race in the career of South African WorldTour rider Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio despite having a cold.
It is being said that this is a ‘true’ gravel course with 85% of the course on gravel with intense gradients and a huge amount of climbing. The chance for the specialists to finally have a pure gravel rider in the rainbow bands after road stars have dominated the first four editions.
The riders are beginning to line up on the start line in Nannup with Wendy Oosterwoud of the Netherlands wearing number one.
The gravel is like nothing seen in European gravel racing and is unique to the area in Australia. Pea gravel is what it says on the tin, gravel that is shaped like peas. It can been incredibly slippery when dry but when wet it can be compacted down and become less notable with tyre choice being crucial.
The course itself is extremely challenging. While it is rather short, in the 125.6km of racing there are 3180 metres of elevation gain with the climbs not allow immediate rest after the summits are they tend to plateau for a while afterwards.
Racing is due to begin at 10:10 local time in Nannup. Roughly 30 minutes from now.
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live updates of the women’s UCI World Gravel Championships 2026 from Nannup, Western Australia.
The temperatures have been high for much of the week but it is a cool and fresh 16°C, unusually low for spring time in the area.
The final podium sees Vos take another rainbow jersey with Klöser in second and Hartog in third.
It wasn’t to be for Rosa Klöser as Marianne Vos had the power and technical skills in the important moment to get clear to take her 15 career world title across so many disciplines.
Magnaldi took fifth ahead of Villafañe, Lützelschwab, Cromwell, Serne and Haley Smith rounding out the top 10.
Larissa Hartog beats Nele Laing to take the bronze medal in a day dominated by the Netherlands and Germany.
Rosa Klöser takes an exceptional second place but the crash at the top of Tank 7 climb was one setback too much.
Marianne Vos wins the Gravel World Championships title 2026!
1km to go for Vos as the Dutch look like they will continue their dominance in the gravel worlds as she looks like she is going to be the first rider to get a second gravel world title.
3km to go for Vos.
The pea gravel has dried out and we are seeing how chaotic it can be when dry. Vos is now riding away to the victory.
Klöser is back riding but Vos is now clear with it all downhill to the finish.
Klöser is just riding Vos to the finish. You would think that Vos would easily win in a sprint but it has been a very long day out today.
6km to go and they are on some very rutted section. This is the last kicker before the finish with Klöser on the front again trying to break the legs of Vos.
It is easy to forget that Klöser has had a puncture on the first climb of the day, got back on then had a stick in the rear mech and got back on again. Whereas, Vos has been active but largely in the wheels always very close to the front.
8km to go and the gap back to Laing and Hartog is 52″.
It is now almost all downhill to Nannup with an average speed up around 27kph today. This has been a brutal day out.
Klöser and Vos working together well since they crested the previous climb with around 35″ to the chasers.
They have taken on a short asphalt section before heading onto the final part of gravel today with the second part of the Folly climb to come. Klöser looked the strongest on the climb but Vos was able to match her.
Out front it is a Dutch rider and a German rider with the chasing duo being a Dutch rider and a German rider. The two nations have certainly dominated this race with Klöser and Vos holding 32″ on Laing and Hartog.
The sunshine has come out again after much of the race spent in the driving rain.
Klöser dropped Vos at Sea Otter Europe back in late September, but this is has been a very different race and the rainbow jersey is on the line.
Hartog makes it to Laing in the chase at 27″ back from Klöser and Vos.
Laing invested a lot to try and get to the leaders but Klöser and Vos now properly push clear.
Laing is riding hard to get back to her teammate of Klöser along with Vos as they negotiate riding around the age groupers.
Klöser, Vos and Villafañe closing but now Klöser and Vos go clear of the rest.
Cromwell heads back onto the gravel and onto the final climb of Folly Farm.
Serne, Frain and Laing get back in after the pace lulls again.
Frain, Laing and Serne are struggling to follow the wheels but Villafañe is still there with a brand new wheel on her bike.
Somehow Sofía Gómez Villafañe (Argentina) has chased all the way back to the front of the race again after being over 2 minutes down.
Laing is trying to get clear but Vos is closing her down again.
Magnaldi has done a bit acceleration and has dragged the leaders back again.
Hartog is brought back as they take some fresh bottles and gels on a rare bit of asphalt.
Hartog now uses her pace and gaps the rest of the group as her teammates look towards the others to chase her down.
The leaders are now descending down towards Nannup for the first time since the start before they start one final loop with two more climbs to come.
Hartog is now setting a hard tempo likely for Vos who is clearly one of, if not the, strongest in the race today.
Bit of an issue for Magnaldi who had to unclip and stop on a hairpin. She has got going again but will need to spend a bit of energy.
Cromwell just being distanced from the chase group led by fellow Australian Frain.
Cromwell, Frain, Lützelschwab and Serne are getting closer to the leaders again. This could actually come together again after all that selection on the Ellis Creek climb.
The leaders are going much faster than the camera bikes on this descent and have left the bike behind. Cromwell pass them as well as she is still chasing now with teammate Frain.
Laing has two World Series wins to her name with both German races going her way. Vos just seems to win almost everything she races. Klöser has had a mixed gravel year with disappointing mechanical filled Leadville 100 and Unbound but she has been superb on the road. Hartog also had a great season that started long ago in cyclocross.
Fortunately, the age groupers have been dropped by the elite women here.
Klöser just clipped the back wheel of Hartog but both stay upright.
Some of the age group men and women are sitting in at the back of the lead group. This isn’t what the pros want at all as it is distracting and can be very dangerous.
The five lead riders are riding well together but they are coming up against some of the age groupers. Fortunately the tracks are wide and there’s plenty of space for the pros.
Hartog and Magnaldi make it back to Klöser, Laing and Vos.
Cromwell is caught and immediately dropped with Hartog and Magnaldi.
Cromwell caught making it a lead group of six riders with 58km to go.
The chasing group of five have closed in on Cromwell rapidly on the Ellis Creek climb, the longest and hardest of the day.
Five riders break clear of the chase group as it splits up on this latest climb. Laing, Vos, Klöser, Magnaldi and Hartog.
Interestingly, Villafañe is out of the back of the chase group alongside Britain’s Johnson. Something must have happened as she looked so strong on the climbs.
Laing and Vos have gapped the rest in the chase showing their descending skills but Cromwell has used the terrain to get her gap back to 1’17” after it dropped to 52″ on the climb.
Now on a very steep and technical descent on this extremely slippery pea gravel. Cromwell just overshot a hairpin and may have lost a couple of seconds.
Now that Klöser is back in the group the Germans return to the front of the chase group with Oosterwoud struggling again.
Cromwell is riding really well and has 1’21” on the chasers with Magnaldi leading the chase group yet again. Klöser gets back in as well.
Now time for the Lewana climb, 1.5km at 5.3%.
The Dutch have numbers but are not chasing with the Germans taking the responsibility through a very rocky and puddle filled section as Cromwell opens her gap to 1’17”.
Meanwhile, Cromwell has 27″ gap on the chase group.
There was a very nasty rut that they hit and it just pushed Schreurs and Moolman-Pasio out with the former kicked to the side and into the rocks. Both look to be out of the race.
Cromwell drags her advantage out to 19″ and is now out of sight from the chase group as the Aussie goes solo in the Worlds, on home soil, in her final race.
Cromwell heads onto the descent, probably the longest downhill of the entire race.
Magnaldi is investing a lot of energy on the front of the favourites group without dropping anyone but they stall again and allow Cromwell a bit more gap.
Vos tried a move but she was heavily marked. Cromwell continues to press on as the chase group starts to sit up a bit more.
Cromwell is leading the chasing group back to the front group as the leader’s pace lulls. That was a big effort from the chasers with Oosterwoud still struggling to hold the wheel but we now have a lead group of around 16 riders.
And the gap is closing. 15″ between the leaders and chasers as riders like Cromwell, Oosterwoud and Flora Johnson (Great Britain) may get back in.
The Shale climb appears to have favoured the chase group as the gap drops to 22″, but this will be based on the motorbikes so we take that gap with a pinch of salt.
Onto Shale climb of 800m at 6.8% which is being done very swiftly as Villafañe and Magnaldi lead the way for now.
The gap between the lead group including Vos, Villafañe, Klöser, Moolman-Pasio and the rest have a minute on the group including Cromwell, Wright and Oosterwoud.
Bit of grass racing turns into mud and then some more traditional looking gravel for a very short period before returning back to the pea gravel very soon.
On the Adina climb now, 1.1km long at 4% average.
Great crowds around the feed area after a period on private land.
Through the feed zone now as multiple riders take on fresh bottles, bars and gels.
Cromwell, Wright, Oosterwoud are now around 45″ down on the leaders.
Wright did all that work on the toughest gradients but has not made the group.
The Dutch still just about have four riders in this select group with Hartog and Geerike Schreurs just holding on.
Cromwell also out of the back with Denmark’s Janni Spangsberg Schori losing tough as well.
Wendy Oosterwoud (Netherlands), Gravel World Series leader, has been gapped just before the hardest section. That is a big surprise.
Klöser flies pass British duo of Nutt and Hermolle as they have to negotiate their way around one of the camera bikes that has got stuck in the mud on the gradients of Brockman.
Wright is ripping this peloton to bits on this climb but Klöser is about to make it back on.
Klöser has fought very well and is about 10″ off the back of the lead group and is picking up riders who are losing touch.
The climb is 2.5km at 8% with kicks well over 15%.
Onto the Brockman climb with Wright and Magnaldi upping the tempo with the rain starting yet again. You won’t win the race here but you can certainly lose it.
Wright, Hartog, Cromwell and Erica Magnaldi (Italy) lead the peloton on this rolling terrain.
Some info coming from the start… The age groupers are heading out in waves now. Some were so keen to ensure a good spot in the start line that they were sitting in the ground with their bikes in their start box well over an hour before their start time.
The sun is back out now but the gravel is very wet and slippy.
Onto the first descent of the day now and the pace shot up to make sure they were in a good position with Vos, Sophie Wright (Great Britain) and Larissa Hartog (Netherlands) leading the way.
Bloor is caught by the Dutch led peloton that has been whittled right down on the first climb.
Inside 1km from the top of the Killarney climb as Bloor holds a very slender lead.
The peloton has shrunk quite a lot on this first climb with Bloor being reeled back in very soon.
Bloor’s gap has now reduced significantly as she continues to tap out a rhythm that suits her but she now just has 30″ on the chasers.
One unexpected rider on the startlist for the elite women was Peta Mullens (Australia) who was expecting to ride the age group of 35-39 but received an email a few days ago saying she will have to race the elite due to rule changes coming into force…
Multiple riders now struggling to hold onto the peloton as Bloor has 1’02” on the pack.
The climb Killarney which is 5.4km of very undulating riding and an average of 3.4% but with some nasty kickers.
Mutsumi Hara (Japan) and Elizabeth Hermolle (Great Britain) early off the back but it is a tough start and there’s a long way to go as the rain begins to fall again.
Mud is already caking the backs of the riders as the riders are on the first climb of the day now.
Bloor’s wheel skipping and skidding all over the place forcing her to freewheel. All the riders have only been able to recon some of the route due to some of the sections being on private property including the first climb of the day.
The peloton hit the gravel and immediately things change as the pace shoots up with the Dutch crowding the front still. 5km to the first climb of the day.
Bloor has a gap of just 12″ on the peloton as the gravel edges closer and closer.
12 riders down as DNFs including Germany’s Romy Kaspar and the Netherlands’ Riejanne Markus.
It is a fast start on the asphalt to begin with the tiny peloton bunched together for the moment but when they hit the gravel it’ll likely immediately split up.
Australian gravel champion and winner here for the SEVEN Gravel race in Nannup earlier in the year, Tiffany Cromwell, is another rider who will be hanging up the wheels after this race.
This will be the final race in the career of South African WorldTour rider Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio despite having a cold.
It is being said that this is a ‘true’ gravel course with 85% of the course on gravel with intense gradients and a huge amount of climbing. The chance for the specialists to finally have a pure gravel rider in the rainbow bands after road stars have dominated the first four editions.
The riders are beginning to line up on the start line in Nannup with Wendy Oosterwoud of the Netherlands wearing number one.
The gravel is like nothing seen in European gravel racing and is unique to the area in Australia. Pea gravel is what it says on the tin, gravel that is shaped like peas. It can been incredibly slippery when dry but when wet it can be compacted down and become less notable with tyre choice being crucial.
The course itself is extremely challenging. While it is rather short, in the 125.6km of racing there are 3180 metres of elevation gain with the climbs not allow immediate rest after the summits are they tend to plateau for a while afterwards.
Racing is due to begin at 10:10 local time in Nannup. Roughly 30 minutes from now.
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live updates of the women’s UCI World Gravel Championships 2026 from Nannup, Western Australia.
The temperatures have been high for much of the week but it is a cool and fresh 16°C, unusually low for spring time in the area.
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