Race Report — 2025 UEC Gravel European Championships

Words by James Ion - Photography provided by Team Go Fast

Avezzano, Abruzzo, Italy — 21 September 2025

The town of Avezzano woke to a sharp autumn light, the Apennine ridges casting long shadows across the Fucino plain. A chill in the air gave way to warmth as riders lined up in Piazza Il Risorgimento, the square alive with national jerseys, nervous smiles, and the faint crunch of gravel under wheels being rolled into position.

The course — a 29.8-kilometre loop of dust, dirt, and rolling tarmac — would ask for resilience. Five laps for the men, three for the women. Climbs that bit into the legs, descents that punished hesitation, and long straights where the wind pressed against the chest like an extra rival.

The Women’s Race

From the first lap, the Italian squad showed intent. Erica Magnaldi, long admired for her climbing craft on the road, found a new rhythm on the gravel. She measured her efforts with poise, staying ever in the right place as attacks flickered and faded around her.

As the race reached its final kilometres, it was Magnaldi against Britain’s Sophie Wright — two riders locked shoulder to shoulder, each surge answered in kind. Into the finishing straight, Avezzano held its breath. Magnaldi, spurred by the roar of home voices, launched a final kick. Wright tried to keep the wheel, but the tricolore surged clear. Victory to Italy, by the width of a bike length.

Behind them, Germany’s Rosa Klöser pressed through the dust to claim bronze, 43 seconds adrift, her expression one of exhaustion and pride.

The Men’s Race

The men’s peloton rattled over the first lap in one long ribbon, but by the third, the selection was already underway. The Danish champion Mads Würtz Schmidt rode with the serenity of a man who knows his legs are good. Where others grimaced, he seemed to float, timing his efforts not with desperation but with quiet conviction.

When he went, few could answer. Lap after lap, the gap stretched — five minutes, then nearly six. The chase splintered into fragments: Anton Stensby of Norway gritted his teeth in lonely pursuit, while Hugo Drechou of France fought to hold the fading draft of fortune.

By the time Würtz Schmidt entered Avezzano alone, the roar was already rising. Arms aloft, dust caked into his skin, he crossed the line a champion by daylight margins. Stensby followed nearly six minutes down, Drechou a breath behind him — the podium complete, the Danish flag flying high.

The Spirit of Abruzzo

These championships were more than just results. They were a celebration of a discipline that was still young yet already carrying a deep tradition. Abruzzo gave it character: the rugged backdrop, the autumn light, the relentless roads that mirror the grit of the riders.

It was the third edition of the European Gravel Championships, the second time on Italian soil. Each year, the peloton grows larger, the battles sharper. Where it goes next, the sport will carry with it the dust of Avezzano — a reminder that Europe’s gravel heart beats strongest in places where the mountains press close and the air tastes of history.

Elite Podium Results

Women

1. Erica Magnaldi: 3:08:39

2. Sophie Wright: same time (0:01)

3. Rosa Kloser: +0:43

Men:

1. Mads Würtz Schmidt: 4:30:39

2. Anton H. Stensby: +5:47

3. Hugo Drechou: +5:49