(I only looked at the events where the results page let me easily determine participation numbers per age group. At Houffa Gravel and Gravel Fondo Limburg, the results page wouldn’t let me filter by age group)
PS: sorry for only checking the male age groups and not the females
Highlands is a fun, well-run race. I’d guess lack of popularity is due to:
relatively short courses. Under 60 group is 68 miles, over 60 is 55 miles. If you don’t have any interest in qualifying, it’s probably a long way to go for a 3 or 4 hour race.
In the US- yes. A lot of gravel races and racers started due to dissatisfaction with USA Cycling/UCI. Most people I know that participate in gravel events don’t carry a USA cycling license.
We also have a phenomenon whereby people tend to flock to big name events like unbound, sbt, etc. The lesser known events get significantly less participants. Gravel is a slice of an already niche sport here.
Exactly. I’ve thought of doing Highlands this year, but it’s two weeks after Sea Otter and then I’m in Unbound so this would probably be too much for me - both from a training / racing perspective and the travel. Maybe a future year when I have less on the calendar.
Yup…the timing of it is another issue. And the new US event (Mammoth Tuff) really deosn’t do much to up participation for the US. First, it is at altitude and second, it is only ~a month before Worlds. Not ideal timing.
They really need more events and better timing. A June / July qualifier in the MidWest would be a great option, IMO.
Hard to argue that its not well known. Feels like 95% of cycling events in the US are currently in Arkansas. Big and little sugar, multiple USAC national champs, Joe Martin stage race.
There is another qualifying race in the US, the Mammoth Tuff.
yeah our posts got crossed in the ether. I agree the timing is bad logistically. Having to wait and see if you qual and then plan and book a trip to Nice in under a month? I don’t suppose its like Leadville where you can defer to next year.
Yeah, good question…I don’t know the answer to that one. With Worlds being so new, I don’t know if they have had to seriously consider that yet. Being the UCI, my gut reaction would be there is no deferral option.
Despite all this…I signed up. Unbound was a no go for me this year because of work and I wanted to target a late April/May race—this seemed as good as any.
Currently sitting at 4.6ish W/kg in the M19-34. Would be nice to finish in the top 25%. Very hard to predict what it will take not knowing a. how many people will show up, and b. WHO will show up. A challenge will be getting on much gravel prior to the race: northern New England doesn’t have spring, we have mud season.
Anyone else either from Brazil or risking it and heading over for that one? I’m biting the bullet as I live in Germany but have family in the area, but would love to know if anyone is familiar with the course
Just make sure you line up at the front. That is the lowest hanging fruit when it comes to setting yourself up for success in these types of races. Chasing from the back blows hard…ugh.
If anyone is looking for an early season training camp, we’re running one here in SE Sweden at the end of May. All inclusive, including airport pickups from Gothenburg. It’s very hard to find finer gravel anywhere in the world. Very budget friendly, lakeside accommodation, 600km over 5 days with 8000m vertical, 90% (largely traffic free) gravel.
Canadian Corner - we have one qualifier and it’s on the same weekend as the Highlands Classic in the US. It is the Paris2Ancaster Cento and a short drive from Toronto, which is easier to get to than Fayetteville, Arkansas for a lot of the US. The shorter Paris2Ancaster Classic is the largest Canadian gravel race and pre-dates gravel as an organized discipline. It’s a bit of a tricked up course with some farm diversions that look more like Cyclocross and mud chutes. The organizers added 30-40 km to the Classic route to make the Cento route.