Can Si Richardson qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships?

Over the years, GCN’s Si Richardson has taken on many gravel challenges, which have taken him to some of the biggest events in the world. He’s been on the start line at the Steamboat Classic, now known as SBT GRVL, attempted a 400-mile ultra-endurance gravel event, and attempted to break a 220-mile record in the King Alfred Way Challenge.

While all of them were major challenges, we decided it was time to take things to the next level and put Si’s gravel pedigree to the full test by finding out if he has what it takes to qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships.

It sounds like we’ve gone beyond ambition into a dreamland, but qualifying for the Gravel World Championships is more attainable than you may think, albeit still incredibly difficult. In fact, any amateur cyclist can be in with the chance of qualifying simply by entering one of the UCI Gravel World Series events.

Founded in 2022, the Gravel World Series is a calendar of races that each act as a qualifying event for the World Championships, with anyone who finishes in the top 25% of riders in their age category earning qualification. This year the number of events has grown to 26, offering a tantalising number of opportunities for everyday riders to take to the World Championships start line. It sounds worryingly achievable on paper, although it’s far from easy to bag one of the coveted qualification spots.

Read more: Si Richardson takes on the Rebound gravel cycling challenge

Still, Si liked the sound of the odds and decided to see if he could earn qualification for the 40-44 age category, but first he needed to decide on an event. He chose the Gravel Fondo Limburg, only a short journey across from the GCN megabase in the UK to the Netherlands, which packed in a 123km course with just over 1000m of climbing. Nothing too crazy then, but like any gravel race, it would be a test of Si’s technical and physical ability, especially as the field was packed with current pros.

Luckily Si was equipped with pro-level equipment to partly level the playing field in the form of the new Colnago G4-X bike and equally new Shimano GRX 12-speed Di2 groupset, but would it be enough to help to propel him to a coveted World Championships starting slot? Watch the full video at the top of this page to find out.

Here at GCN, we’re constantly putting our presenters to the test through new challenges. Explore our full range of challenges here.