2025 UCI Gravel World Championships Revises Start Procedure to Boost Safety and Reward Top Qualifiers

The Bolero 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships today announced an update to the starting procedure designed to improve safety, recognize top performers from the UCI Gravel World Series qualifiers, and streamline race starts for large fields

The change expands the “priority box” at the front of the start grid to include more top finishers from qualifying races while clarifying registration deadlines and Elite-category procedures.

Since last year, defending World Champions and winners of UCI Gravel World Series age-category qualifiers have been granted privileged placement in the first row, known as the priority box. For Bolero 2025, the priority box will be expanded in categories that start with more than 100 riders: in addition to defending World Champions, all riders who finish in the top three in a qualifying race will now be eligible for priority-box placement. Older categories that are combined into a single start will not receive a priority box even if the combined group exceeds 100 riders.

The update aims primarily to increase rider safety by grouping competitors of similar ability at the front of large starting fields. By reducing the need for faster riders to surge through dense pelotons during the opening kilometers, the change lowers the chance of early-race incidents and congestion. The priority box also serves as a recognition and reward for strong performances in qualifying races and removes the burden of long waits in the regular start boxes for those riders.

To give organizers time to assemble priority lists, registration for the priority box will close at 23:59 CET on September 30. Riders may still register for the Championships until October 6, per the official invitation, but registrations after September 30 will not be eligible for priority-box placement and must begin the race from their allocated regular start box.

The Elite category will follow a separate, individualized starting order. Elite call-up positions will be determined by a combined points system that includes points earned during the UCI Gravel World Series season, results from last year’s World Championships, and 50% of points from UCI rankings in road, MTB XCO, MTB marathon and cyclocross disciplines. Elite riders will be called to the line one by one to ensure clear, fair positioning.

“We’re making this change to keep riders safer and to properly reward those who perform at the top of qualifying events,” said Marianne De Smet, Race Director for Bolero 2025. “Grouping similarly skilled riders at the front reduces risky early-race moves and recognizes the hard work of podium finishers. Closing priority registration early also gives us the time needed to prepare accurate start lists.”

For more information, please visit: https://ucigravel2025.com/en