Behind the news that the UCI, the governing body of cycling, is considering holding a gravel world championship and regulating gravel racing, Lachlan Morton of EF Pro Cycling said that other gravel racers, under the guise of the American gravel race, Dirty Kanza, have already He said that he might suggest that they hold their own world championships.

Morton is currently road racing in the Tour Down Under in South Australia, a World Tour stage race that received a visit from UCI President David Lapartier earlier in the week. The French president spoke at length with the media in attendance, including CyclingNews, about a number of issues, among them the growth of gravel riding and racing.

"You can see that it is very popular worldwide and has great potential for development. You can see that cycling fans love gravel riding," LaPartient said. 'We are working on this at the UCI level.'

Asked if that would eventually mean an official UCI Gravel World Championships with a rainbow jersey for the winner, Lapartiento replied: "I think so. This is something that is currently being discussed and could be in the future."

Speaking to Cyclingnews about the growth of the gravel scene and his role in the EF Pro Cycling team's decision to run an "alternative race program" alongside its World Tour road racing program, Morton said that the emerging, particularly strong American He emphasized the difference between the gravel scene and the more traditional road events that remain popular in Europe.

Morton spoke about the UCI's plans on Saturday, the morning after he shaved his head for the Salvation Army's wildfire relief efforts.

"It's not because I don't want to comment, but because I don't think gravel racing is our thing. As far as the racing component, I think it's kind of a grassroots movement, and I think anyone who is in that scene would tell you that Dirty Kanza already has a world championship," he said.

Dirty Kanza, which starts and finishes in Emporia, Kansas, in late May each year, has become arguably the best-known gravel event in the world and was on EF Pro Racing's alternate race calendar last season, with Morton's teammate Alex Howes, Trek Segafredo's Peter Stetina, along with thousands of other riders of all abilities.

"You realize that the UCI has to adapt. But the reality is that gravel riding is just bike riding. You don't need a gravel bike, you don't need disc brakes, you don't need a bike to ride gravel."

"I think the reason events like Dirty Kanza are so successful is because it's a mass participation event," Morton added.

"Anyone can participate, line up, and when the race is over you can say shit to the finishers six hours later, and it's hard to imagine the UCI doing an event where they would let anyone line up."

As the gravel discipline continues to grow, Stetina and former World Tour riders Ian Boswell and Lawrence ten Dam recently announced that they will switch to gravel and adventure racing in 2020.

"It's good to see athletes jumping into gravel and thinking it's a valid option to continue racing. The World Tour is a high pressure environment and it's mentally hard. To have a 20-year career on the World Tour is a lot of stress, a lot of pressure, and it's not easy. [And the future of bike riding is much, much more complex, it's not "you're a road rider" or "you're a gravel rider," it's all bike riding. It's all bike racing, and we should all celebrate that."