The gravel scene
Where pro gravel stands after the 2025 and 2026 seasons, and the women and men whose results suggest they would thrive over several days at Leadville's altitude.
Please read this first. Grand Tour Gravel is a proposed race in development, aimed at late summer 2027. It has never been run. No rider named on this page has entered it, committed to it, been approached about it, or endorsed it. We profile them only as examples of the kind of rider this race is designed for. The selection, grouping and commentary are our own, and every result links to the source we checked it against. Teams and sponsors are shown as of 2026, and only where we could confirm them.
The state of the scene
Gravel racing has become a full professional season with its own calendar, series, teams and world championship. A few facts frame it.
Unbound Gravel in Kansas held its 20th anniversary edition in 2026, a 200-mile day run in heavy mud. The Traka in Girona, Spain is Europe's largest. SBT GRVL in Steamboat Springs is Colorado's flagship gravel race, and the Belgian Waffle Ride runs a four-stop series that includes California and Utah.
Since 2022 the invitation-only Life Time Grand Prix has tied six US off-road races into one season-long standings table, mixing gravel and mountain bike events. It gave riders a reason to race the same big events all year, and brands a reason to build teams around them. The 2025 series paid its champions $20,000 and paid down to tenth place, according to Cyclingnews.
The Leadville Trail 100 MTB is a Grand Prix round and the series' altitude test, starting at 10,152 feet and turning at Columbine Mine near 12,424 feet. In 2026 the Willow Fire forced a revised route without the Powerline climb, and the purse was doubled to $60,000 with $10,000 to each elite winner, women and men alike (Cyclingnews). The race also belongs to the story of Anna Moriah "Mo" Wilson, second there in 2021, whom this site remembers.
The UCI runs a Gravel World Series of qualifying events and an annual world championship. Florian Vermeersch of Belgium and Lorena Wiebes of the Netherlands won the 2025 titles in Limburg (Cyclingnews). The 2026 championships are set for 10 and 11 October in Nannup, Western Australia, the first held outside Europe (UCI Gravel World Series). A separate privately run circuit, the Gravel Earth Series, links The Traka, Oregon Trail Gravel and others.
WorldTour riders now appear at the biggest gravel start lines. Romain Bardet and Thomas De Gendt were in the front groups at Unbound 2026 (Cyclingnews), and Lidl-Trek's Quinn Simmons came straight from the Tour de France to finish ninth at Leadville. Traffic runs the other way too: 2025 Leadville winner Kate Courtney signed with FDJ United-SUEZ in 2026 to race on the road.
Specialized built a six-rider off-road team for 2026 and Trek runs its Driftless squad, while several established names chose privateer deals with separate bike and apparel sponsors (Cyclingnews). Geerike Schreurs described her first gravel year as being "my own mechanic, soigneur, manager, and athlete all in one" (Cyclingnews).
Equipment follows the course. Riders now pick bikes race by race. At a muddy Unbound, Durango's Cobe Freeburn went with narrow tires, generous clearance and a chain guide (Durango Herald). At Leadville in 2026, Australia's Brendan Johnston lined up on a new full-suspension Giant Anthem (Cyclingnews). At the 2026 US gravel nationals, both elite titles were won on Trek's new Domane road bike (Velo). A multi-day race over mixed high passes would make that choice harder, which is part of its appeal.
Part one
Thirteen riders, grouped by what their results say about them. Many fit more than one group. Leadville and SBT GRVL results carry the most weight here because they are raced at altitude.
Riders with proven results at Leadville and Steamboat, where the air is thin and the climbs are long.
Why she fits: she has won at altitude, won the five-day Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder in 2025, and owns two Cape Epic titles, so a gravel GC would suit her range.
Sources: SBT 2026, Unbound 2026, LTGP 2025, Oregon Trail 2025
Why she fits: three straight years at the front of Leadville, including a 2026 win after an early crash, show how well she handles the town's elevation.
Sources: Leadville 2026, SBT 2025
Why she fits: the former US Ski Team racer also won Life Time's Leadville stage race in July 2026, so she has already raced several days in a row at these elevations.
Sources: Leadville 2026, Leadville contenders 2026, profile
Why she fits: a Leadville winner with a record of steady finishes across whole seasons, which is how a general classification is won.
Sources: Leadville 2022, LTGP 2025
Riders who have won or podiumed races decided on cumulative time, on gravel, mountain bikes or the road.
Why she fits: she won the 2026 edition of the only established US gravel stage race by a wide margin. She has said she struggled with the altitude at Leadville, so Colorado would be the open question.
Sources: Oregon Trail 2026, Gravel Worlds 2026, GES 2026
Why she fits: a road stage-race winner who climbs well at altitude. The Gila is raced at elevation in New Mexico.
Sources: Leadville contenders 2026, SBT 2026
Why she fits: two podiums at the only established US gravel stage race, and she can ride alone at the front for hours.
Sources: Trek Driftless 2026, Oregon Trail 2025, BWR 2026
Why she fits: eight days of the Cape Epic is about as hard a stage-race test as exists off road, and she has already raced Leadville near the front.
Sources: Cape Epic 2026, Leadville 2026, contenders 2026
Winners of the long single-day races whose engines would carry over to back-to-back days.
Why she fits: she wins the longest days in the sport and has already shown she can hold a GC position over five days.
Sources: Traka 2025, Unbound 2025, Oregon Trail 2026
Why she fits: she rode the 2026 Tour de France Femmes, a real multi-day load, and made her Leadville debut the same summer.
Sources: Traka 2026, Gravel Worlds 2026, contenders 2026
Why she fits: a strong time trialist (third at 2026 US pro nationals) who finished in Leadville's top ten in 2025, a useful mix for a GC.
Sources: Nationals 2026, Trek Driftless 2026, contenders 2026
Riders whose 2026 seasons point upward.
Why she fits: climbing, time trialing and stage racing in one young rider, with a Visma-Lease a Bike stagiaire contract on the way.
Sources: profile, Visma stagiaire
Why she fits: her best 2026 results came in Colorado, and her Leadville finishes keep improving.
Sources: SBT 2026, Nationals 2026, Leadville 2026
Part two
Thirteen riders, grouped the same way. Several of the strongest are international riders who have built their seasons around US races.
Riders with proven results at Leadville and Steamboat.
Why he fits: nobody in the sport has a better record at Leadville's altitude, and he has won the Life Time Grand Prix three times.
Sources: Leadville 2026, SBT 2026, Unbound 2023
Why he fits: a road stage racer, long based in Colombia, who reached the Leadville podium at his first attempt.
Sources: contenders 2026, Unbound 2025, LTGP 2025
Why he fits: he keeps finishing on the podium at the two Colorado races that matter most for altitude.
Sources: SBT 2026, contenders 2026
Riders who have won races decided on cumulative time.
Why he fits: a Cape Epic champion several times over who knows how to manage a week-long GC.
Sources: Cape Epic 2026, Unbound 2026, Big Sugar 2025
Why he fits: he defended his Oregon Trail title in 2026 by retaking the lead on the final day, the skill a GC demands.
Sources: Oregon Trail 2026, Unbound 2025, LTGP 2025
Why he fits: he led the 2026 Oregon Trail GC into its final day and finished nearly seven minutes clear of third.
Sources: Oregon Trail 2026, Unbound winners
Why he fits: a road stage-race veteran with a gravel GC win already on his record.
Sources: Oregon Trail 2026, Traka 2024, Canyon season review
Winners of the long single-day races.
Why he fits: the most dominant one-day gravel rider of 2026, with the long solo efforts a stage race often rewards.
Sources: Unbound 2026, Traka 2026, GES 2026
Why he fits: big-day power, and he has already raced the five days in Oregon.
Sources: Traka 2025, Unbound 2026, Oregon Trail 2026
Why he fits: Trek calls him "a pure diesel engine," and he has already finished in Leadville's top eight twice.
Sources: Gravel Worlds 2026, Trek Driftless 2026, contenders 2026
Why he fits: a marathon mountain biker who has been a Grand Prix top-ten rider for three seasons and comes to Colorado early to acclimatize.
Sources: Unbound 2026, Chequamegon 2026, contenders 2026
Riders whose 2026 seasons point upward.
Why he fits: he matched the best Leadville rider of his era to the line on his way up.
Sources: Leadville 2026, Chequamegon 2026, BWR 2026
Why he fits: Leadville is the race he builds his year around, and in 2026 he closed a gap to the leaders on the final climb.
Sources: Leadville 2026
Home riders
Riders based in Colorado or closely tied to its races, where we could confirm the connection. Norway's Toby Røed, profiled above, also lives in Colorado, and Lidl-Trek road pro Quinn Simmons grew up in Durango. As an 18-year-old in 2019 he finished second at Leadville (Cyclingnews).
Why she fits: Western Slope based, with two multi-day mountain bike podiums in 2025.
Sources: Q36.5 team 2026, Scott, LTGP 2025
Why she fits: a Durango climber with four Oregon Trail starts, so she knows how to pace a week.
Sources: Durango Herald, Traka 2025
Why she fits: her record in Colorado's high-elevation gravel races is as long as anyone's.
Sources: SBT 2021, SBT 2025, Rad Dirt Fest
Why he fits: a 25-year-old Colorado climber whose results jumped in 2026.
Sources: Nationals 2026, SBT 2026, Durango Herald
Why he fits: he spends his winters racing uphill on skis at altitude, and it shows every August.
Sources: contenders 2026, Leadville 2026
Why he fits: he finished fourth in his first five-day gravel stage race, months after a hip fracture.
Sources: Durango Herald, LTGP 2025
Why this race would draw them
Most of the riders above build their seasons from one-day races. The multi-day options are few: Oregon Trail Gravel in the Cascades, mountain bike stage races such as the Cape Epic, and Life Time's short Leadville stage race on mountain bikes. There is no multi-day gravel race with a general classification in the Colorado high country.
That is the gap Grand Tour Gravel is being planned to fill: point-to-point stages over high passes such as Mosquito, at 13,185 feet, with cumulative time deciding the overall. Many of these riders already come to Leadville every August for the Trail 100. The town has the altitude that separates a field, and it already hosts the Leadville Race Series every summer.
Whether any of these riders would ever take part is for them to decide. The race is being designed so that riders like these would find it worth the trip.
The first edition is still being planned. Sign up for updates and you will know when dates and entries open.
Sources
Results were checked against race reports and official pages current to September 2026. Each rider card also links its own sources.