The UCI announced the creation of an officially sanctioned gravel (open in new tab) series and world championships following the conclusion of the Management Committee meeting held during the UCI Road World Championships in Belgium. This decision will add a tenth discipline to the International Federation's events.

The federation has partnered with Belgian event organizer Golazo to create the UCI Gravel World Series, a mass participation race that will serve as a qualifying event for the new UCI Gravel World Championships.

Golazo also organizes the Gran Fondo World Series and World Championships as part of the UCI Cycling for All initiative.

Organizers of the Eroica in Tuscany have offered to host the first ever gravel world championships, but it is likely that they will be held in the United States, where gravel events have grown rapidly in recent years.

Details of the rules governing gravel events and which events will be included in the series are not yet known.

Nebraska has already hosted an event calling itself Gravel World, with 300-mile, 150-mile, 75-mile, and 50k races held in August. This year, Lauren De Crescenzo and John Borstelman won the 150-mile title.

Gravel joined road, mountain bike, track, cyclocross, BMX, BMX freestyle, trials, indoor cycling, and e-sports as a sanctioned discipline.

The federation also announced new rankings for MTB short track and a test event for cyclocross team relays at the 2022 Cyclocross World Championships in Arkansas.

The UCI also stated that it is "exploring new possibilities" for the creation of a snowbike World Cup and World Championships in the 2022-2023 winter season, which will be discussed at the next Steering Committee meeting.

UCI President David LaPartient said: "We have a very interesting new ranking in mountain biking cross-country and short track, gravel has been recognized as an additional discipline and is expanding rapidly, a new team in cyclocross format has been launched, and new avenues for the development of snow biking are being explored.