Gravel Earth 2026: A series of unfortunate events?
Where’s The Rift, and did they forget Unbound? Klassmark are playing a risky game.
The Gravel Earth Series released its 2026 calendar this week, and it’s hard not to feel disappointed.
Once again, cycling finds itself paralysed by multiple stakeholders who refuse to talk to each other. Gravel had the opportunity to rewrite the script, but somehow ended up with the same old story.
The Gravel Earth Series (GES) is the brainchild of Klassmark, a Girona-based events company behind the Traka, Santa Vall, and a host of other races. They’ve built some of the best-organised and inclusive events in gravel, complete with live streams, strong YouTube storytelling, and a genuine sense of community.
Next year’s calendar, though, makes little sense. It’s messy, mistimed, and in conflict with the very riders who helped build its reputation.
Before we dive in, let’s remember that, like it or not, this is a professional race series. There are podiums, prize money, and an explicit invitation for the world’s best to show up.
Decisions like these matter.
1. Fewer races are good
Let’s start positive: downsizing the series was the right call.
The 2025 calendar was bloated: 25 races, little coherence, and no clear storyline. Cutting it down to 12 gives it room to breathe. It helps focus the narrative, build consistency, and bring some legitimacy to the overall standings. There’s also an introduction of age-group racing, which gives more people something to aim at.
Credit where it’s due, this part makes sense.
2. The riders are confused.
Within minutes of posting my thoughts about the calendar, I had a large percentage of the GES Top 10 in my DMs.
The sentiment was near-unanimous: disappointment.
Allow me to be clear, I do not want to be critical. Klassmark is a family-owned business, and Life Time is a multi-billion-dollar corporation. But that’s exactly what made their Gravel Earth Series special; it genuinely felt like a rival to the billion-dollar-backed Life Time races.
It felt human. It felt independent. It felt like ours. It was built on passion.
These latest moves seem corporate and calculated. I’m sorry, Klassmark, but you’ve missed the mark, and if you want to play this game, you will lose to Life Time.
3. The new structure is CRAZY
Did Klassmark forget that Unbound Gravel exists?
Ranxo, a race that’s gained a reputation as the GES finale and beloved for its proximity to Girona, has been moved to the week after Unbound. The week after Unbound?! Erm, why?
Unbound is the Tour de France of gravel. It’s the one event the world’s best riders will always prioritise. Holding a race in the backyard of most riders just eight days after the 200-mile Kansas event is, frankly, ridiculous.
To make it worse, the week after Ranxo (so two weeks after Unbound), the GES calendar lists Lost and Found Gravel in California. To go from Unbound to Lost and Found, with a recovery week in between, would’ve been perfect. Instead, they’ve jammed Ranxo in the middle, a scheduling decision that defies logic.
4. It’s impossible to race the whole series
The whole point of a race series is to bring together the best riders - but this calendar makes that impossible. Even before factoring in other major events, the GES schedule is so scattered (and logistically expensive) that no rider can race the full series.
If they can’t match Life Time’s half-million dollar prize pot, the least they can do is design a calendar that makes it easy for riders to attend.
5. The gap grows to the Life Time Grand Prix
There’s a huge financial disparity. Just last week, Life Time announced a $590,000 prize pot for 2026. The format is simple: a defined calendar, serious money, and genuine prestige. Win those races, and it can change your career.
As one pro put it: “I feel like we are going to see Life Time eat Gravel Earth Series’ lunch as the wealth gap increases.”
I feel GES need to take a page from the Life Time Grand Prix playbook.
Life Time has a clear distinction: Life Time events are open to everyone, but the Grand Prix is a pro competition that overlays those events. The branding is consistent, but the difference is clear.
6. Where have The Rift & Gravel Worlds gone?
If the Traka is the crown jewel of the GES, The Rift was second.
First raced in 2019, the Icelandic event has earned a reputation as one of Europe’s gravel monuments. It’s featured in the GES since the beginning and is one of the most anticipated stops on the calendar.
‘Gravel Worlds’ is conspicuously absent, too. The race is widely regarded as an American classic with an incredible organisation team. They also boast a six-figure prize pot to get pros drooling.
Both absences in 2026 raise eyebrows. While it’s officially unclear why they are no longer part of the series, the whispers help to fill out the gaps.
Events pay to be included in the GES, and it’s believed that high(er?) fees and marketing demands are hard for organisers to justify. Sources tell me that high-profile races walked away due to a lack of clear returns and that other events turned down invitations to join.
With that in mind →
7. Cuckoo Gravel feels wrong
As if losing The Rift wasn’t enough, the creation of Cuckoo Gravel - a Klassmark event in Iceland - has left a sour taste in a lot of mouths.
It’s scheduled just two weeks before The Rift and, from what’s been shared, appears to take place in a similar region and on a similar course. That doesn’t sit right, and for a series built on collaboration, it’s tone-deaf.
There’s no hiding the fact that Cuckoo Gravel steps on The Rift’s toes. With competitors inevitably torn between obligations, Klassmark’s new race will actively hurt the progress that made The Rift a global classic.
I don’t know the full story, but reportedly, The Rift organiser only found out about this new race in the past few weeks. The optics aren’t good here. This move feels like something dreamed up in a corporate boardroom, not a family business.
8. “No nature, no future” feels ironic.
The irony of seeing the GES slogan, “No Nature, No Future,” plastered across a calendar that gives you jet lag just looking at it is hard to miss.
The GES has made sustainability part of its identity. Riders are required to label nutrition with their race numbers in case of littering, a small but symbolic gesture that’s always felt genuine. If the series truly believes in its message, it needs to prove it through bigger actions.
I know, glass houses. I travel more than most people in this sport. But that’s not the point. My brand isn’t built on an environmental mantra.
9. Short-term thinking?
Klassmark has a business to run, and while I respect that, I do worry they’re thinking in a three-year cycle, when the sport needs a thirty-year vision.
What makes them different is that they aren’t the faceless Life Time organisation. They’re independent. Yet, these moves feel like an imitation of its American counterpart, just without the billion-dollar backing. The irony is that in trying to compete with Life Time, Klassmark may have forgotten why the riders cared in the first place.
In this sport, trying to be something you aren’t is a dangerous game.
Thanks to Chris Mehlman and Logan Jones-Wilkins for reading through drafts of this.
If I had a dollar for every time I mixed up GES and LTGP in this article before publishing, then, well, maybe I’d have enough dollars to afford the Unbound entry fee. But that’s an article for next week.
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Great points. And in reality, the team that puts on the LTGP is a very small group that cares a lot about all the issues you addressed here.