Gravel worlds in 2022 and an expanded Women’s WorldTour for 2023
UCI releases significant updates to race calendar for this year and next
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FloBikes
Big changes are coming to the race calendar as soon as this fall after the release of an update from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
It’s all part of a major update from the organization that also included updated, stricter rules for the participation of transgender athletes in cycling.
Gravel World Championships
The first change is the introduction of the first-ever gravel world championships for 2022. Gravel worlds are set to take place in Italy in the Veneto region in the north-east of the country on October 8-9, 2022. In 2023, the event will move to September 30, though no host venue is yet determined.
This event will serve as the conclusion to the also-new Gravel World Series.
Women’s WorldTour expands
The Women’s WorldTour is expanding by four events in 2023 (probably). 2022 will see one more COVID-related cancellation, while RideLondon Classique could fall off the calendar if it doesn’t agree to meet broadcast standards.
The four events joining the 2023 WWT include three current ProSeries races and one entirely new tour.
Women’s Santos Tour Down Under, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Tour de Suisse all are set to upgrade from ProSeries to UCI Women’s WorldTour. A all-new women’s edition of the UAE Tour will debut in 2023 along side the existing men’s competition.
Both the WWT and men’s UCI WorldTour lose one event each at the end of the 2022 season. The men’s Gree-Tour of Guangxi (Oct. 13-18) and the WWT Tour of Guangxi (Oct. 18) are cancelled as per a decision of the local organizer due to COVID-related issues in that country. That mean’s the men’s UCI WorldTour will end on Oct. 8 wil Il Lombardia while the UCI Women’s WorldTour ends on Oct. 15 at Tour of Chongming Island in China.
UCI also gave notice to RideLondon Classique that it failed to meet the broadcast standards for a Women’s World Tour event. Only the final stage was broadcast live, while the UCI requires each stage be presented. The British event’s inclusion in the 2023 WWT is now “conditional to the presentation of firm commitments concerning the live TV broadcasting of all the stages,” with a final decision expected in September.
