Gravel cycling championship brings global audience to tiny town
Thousands of cyclists and spectators have flooded into Nannup, in southern WA, for the town's first effort to host the 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships.
The 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships attracted thousands of cyclists and spectators to Nannup, a small town in southern Western Australia. The race took place over two days through the Blackwood Valley, a picturesque area with rich green hills and forests. The event, held just outside Europe for the first time, aimed to showcase Nannup's mountain biking trails to a global audience of up to 130 million people.
Shire of Nannup Deputy President Vicki Hansen worked years to secure the event for the town. The hills surrounding the town, varying from 70 meters above sea level to 300 meters in some areas, provided ideal terrain for the competitors. Dutch cyclist Marianne Vos won the elite women’s title, followed by Germany's Rose Kloser and the Netherlands' Larisa Hartog.
This marked the second championship victory for the two-time Olympic medalist. Wendy Oosterwoud, a competitor from the Netherlands, was thrilled to see the event in a non-European location. The event's unique wide gravel roads and vast landscapes differed from those in other parts of the world. Many international cyclists, including US cyclist Tim Borsetti, had never heard of Nannup before the event.
Accommodation in Nannup was fully booked for the occasion, with visitors staying in nearby towns to share the load. Local businesses, like cafe owner Hayley Rubery, experienced unprecedented success due to the event, registering a 700 percent increase in revenue for a single day. The town will continue to benefit from the influx of visitors, with local businesses and residents excited about the new opportunities brought by the event.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
