Organizers of the Highland Gravel Classic in Arkansas have announced that the event, to be held on June 24, 2023, will return as part of the second round of the UCI Gravel World Series. The Arkansas off-road race will be one of two North American qualifiers for the UCI Gravel World Championships.

In 2022, the Highlands Gravel Classic became the only North American event in the 11-race world series when the Jingle GX Gravel in Iowa was cancelled a month before its scheduled August date. This year's Highlands Gravel will precede the new off-road Gran Fondo, Blue Mountains Gravel, in Thornbury, Ontario, by one week.

The full UCI Gravel World Series schedule will be announced later this month. The top 25% of the men's and women's age group in each event will qualify for the World Championships to be held at the end of the season.

Registration opens today for the Highland Gravel Classic, which also features a shorter 52.4-mile course and serves as a qualifier for the women's 50+ age category and the men's 60+ age category.

"Marketing and registration for the 2023 Highland Gravel Classic is being accelerated to ensure that all American gravel cyclists can qualify for the World Championships in Italy," said event organizer All Sports Bruce Dunn, CEO and race director of All Sports Productions, the organizer of the event.

In the inaugural 66-mile Highland Gravel Classic, Andrew Evans won the elite men's division and Renee Ramsey won the women's division. The event will be held again next year on the last weekend in June, although the humid, sweltering heat meant that there were only 111 participants.

The course, however, was highly rated, a 95% gravel course that winds through the Boston Mountains in the Ozarks of northeast Arkansas. Race organizers expect the course to have the same amount of off-road surface and may change the route from the Fritchey Farm starting area to eliminate the elevation gain.

Italy will return to host the Gravel World Championships in 2023, and Belgium has been chosen to host the event in 2024.

The first UCI Gravel World Championships saw 560 riders from 39 countries compete in 19 categories on the Strade Bianche in Veneto. Riders rode flat and fast urban circuits from Vicenza to Cittadella, with France's Pauline Ferrand-Prevot taking the women's elite rainbow jersey and Belgium's Gianni Vermeersch winning the men's elite title.