Leadville, Colorado · 10,152 ft
A gravel stage race across the roof of the Rockies
Grand Tour Gravel is a plan for a multi-day gravel race in the Colorado high country, starting and finishing in Leadville. Point-to-point days linked by the great alpine passes, on the mining roads that made this cycling country.
The idea
A gravel grand tour for the high passes
Gravel has grown a professional field, a following and a calendar built mostly on one-day races. Multi-day gravel stage races are rare: the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder is the established one in the US. None runs a general classification over Colorado's alpine passes, the 12,000- and 13,000-foot through-roads above Leadville. That is the race this plan describes.
Gravel not mountain bikeA week not a daySeptember not AugustSmall field looked after
Leadville already pulls the sport's best here every August for the Trail 100. Grand Tour Gravel builds on that gravity: several days of racing, a cumulative-time overall, and the highest through-roads in North America as the climbs that decide it.
The format
A stage race, gravel to the core
Point-to-point days
Each stage links a high pass to a mountain town or the ranch, chip-timed, self-supported with neutral aid and fully swept. The overall goes to the lowest cumulative time across the week.
A race for everyone
An elite field up front, timed touring waves behind, cutoffs set honestly for the altitude, and an e-gravel category. You don't have to win to finish the high country.
A real basecamp
Riders sleep and recover at a lodge on a private ranch and in Leadville, with mechanics and medical on site. Not a parking-lot bivouac.
The course
Run on the passes that built the sport
The terrain is already here: a century of mining roads and the highest alpine gravel in the country, within reach of one town. A candidate route threads the ranges pass to pass.
The basecamp
A host village already on the ground
Grand Tour Gravel is built around Leadville and a private 1,000-acre ranch on Turquoise Lake, with a five-bedroom lodge already running there today. The race village isn't a problem to solve. It's the home field.
For riders
What we know, and what's still open
Nothing is for sale yet. These pages set out how entry, rules and rider services are planned to work, each marked with where it stands.
How entry will work
Entry method, field size, options under consideration and the elite program.
What riders will get
Aid, bags, transfers, meals, mechanics and lodging, each marked planned or under consideration.
FAQ
Dates, cost, altitude, bikes, cutoffs, cancelled stages and the 2026 wildfire.
The road to 2027
- DoneConcept and candidate coursePublished September 2026, with the operator playbook.
- PendingLand-manager permitsUSFS, BLM and the counties. These set the dates, the route and the field size.
- PendingSanctioning and insuranceSets the rules, categories and minimum age.
- PendingFounding sponsorsCategory exclusivity is still open. Partners
- PendingDates announcedTarget: late summer 2027.
- DraftEntry method and policiesDraft rules and refund terms are online for comment.
The playbook
Everything it takes to run it
A race like this is won in the permits, the insurance, and the medical plan. The operator playbook is the open knowledge base for building it — the real resources, not slogans.
Permitting & land use
USFS, BLM, county and the ranch — and the lead times that set the calendar.
Sanctioning & insurance
USA Cycling vs. self-permitted, liability limits, and waivers.
The full operator playbook
Course design, medical, timing, volunteers, budget, athlete guide and more.
Founding partners
Help build a gravel grand tour for the high country
Grand Tour Gravel is in development. Riders, sponsors, land partners and towns who want a hand in the inaugural edition — this is the moment.