Nathan Haas told Cycling News that he would like to participate in the Gravel World Championships and fight to win the gravel rainbow jersey, but the UCI has yet to try to hijack the nascent gravel racing scene and the mass participation event that is gravel racing " He warned against trying to take away the "fun and smiles.

UCI President David Lapartient revealed that gravel world championships are "currently under consideration and a possibility for the future," and that the UCI is already talking about how gravel racing might fit under the governance of a global governing body.

"I think together we will certainly be stronger. The goal today is not to fight anyone, but to bring everyone together. That's what the UCI does," Lapartiento told Cycling News and other media who visited the 24-hour Tour Down Under.

Some gravel riders and event organizers quickly fired back at Lapartient, arguing that the UCI was not needed and that races like Dirty Kanza were already unofficial world championships among gravel racers.

Haas raced mountain bikes before focusing on road racing at the World Tour level. He has a more balanced approach and reaction.

"A lot of my training is off-road, so I'd love to go to the Gravel World Championships. Right now I'm 100% a road racer, but if there was a Gravel World Championships, I don't think I could keep myself away from it," the new Cofidis racer told Cycling News at the Tour Down Under.

"But it would depend on what it would be like. But it really depends on what it's going to be like.

"We're in the pioneering days of what gravel should be, and the UCI had a certain legitimacy in all aspects of cycling, whether people liked it or not.

." If we all help develop gravel into its own global sport, it will help cycling as a whole, the bicycle industry, and everyone who loves to ride, whether on the road or in gravel.

Haas is convinced that many World Tour road racers and cyclocross riders aspire to be gravel world championship riders like he is.

Riders like Peter Sagan, Wout Van Aert, Mathieu Van Der Pol, Lucinda Brand, and Marianne Vos would excel in gravel racing, while Pete Stetina, Ian Boswell, Ten King, and Lawrence Ten Dam Former World Tour riders like Pete Stetina, Ian Boswell, Ten King, and Lawrence Ten Dam have already turned their attention to the burgeoning gravel racing circuit in the United States.

"It depends on each rider, each time, and if we can do it at the right moment," Haas said.

"Why are you a pro cyclist, it's to win the biggest races. There are beautiful crossover events like Strade Bianche, Toro Bro Leon, and Paris-Tours. The Tour de France also has gravel. Hopefully, gravel racing will be great in European road racing."