Hi there! As the season is coming to an end and the next one seem to be right around the corner, I was wondering - what are the 5 best One Day Gravel Races in Europe?
I feel it’s a tricky question - as there are so many good options in the US - but in europe?
Do you have any idea what would be the top five one day races in Europe?
Best regards!!
Off the top of my head I can’t even name five… and the few I know of are new this year or in the past couple of years which doesn’t help build up a reputation.
With the exception of the Dirty Reiver in Northumberland UK. That must be up there. https://dirtyreiver.co.uk/
There’s the first edition of the UCI Gravel World Championships in Italy next week, and there were a couple of european UCI races earlier in the year : Calendar – UCI Gravel World Series
There seem to be a fair few in France and Spain, but they all seem to be pretty small local affairs - I’d love to know which are worth travelling for!
My mate is out riding the Glorious Gravel – Escape the City, Ride the Wild event in Slovenia and he raced at nearly 20mph 
The King’s Cup Gravel - Britain’s ultimate gravel festival. (kingscupgravel.com) race in Thetford Forrest the other week. He’s friends with the Kings Cup organiser who puts on races around the UK too.
I did Octopus Gravel Andermatt which is not really that much of a race, but has some really nice gravel climbs and gives you an option to explore different areas then the typical climbs on the road bike. Hope it has 2nd edition next year. I will also do Gravel Rallye Rhine valley in 2 weeks (the long ride), so I will be able to report on that after the event, they also have an event in July in the Black forest which should also be a nice area, which I may do next year. There is also the Eroica Series of Events which seem to be nice, but I didn’t do any of them yet.
This looks like it will be quite cool - spun off from steamboat gravel in some way: https://www.fnldgrvl.com/
There’s the Lakelander in Fermanagh in Ireland, which was first run in 2019. Didn’t make it back because of Covid, but will be back next week. Only a few km of tarmac over the 100km. There’s also been ones in Galway and Westport the last year or two.
I did a local one when in Vendee in the summer, but very much needed French (which I was embarrassed by my standard). There’s a few more French ones shared to a Facebook group I joined. So many gravel roads in the Vendee - it’s a great place to bring your gravel bike!