‘I expect a very hard race with big time gaps’ – A UCI Gravel World Championships title defence for Florian Vermeersch in Nannup

From CyclingNews.com

By Simone Giuliani

UAE Team Emirates rider has been on the past three years, but can he do it again on the challenging Western Australian course

The winner of the 2025 UCI Gravel World Championships elite men’s race, Florian Vermeersch, has decided to make the trip out to Australia to defend his world title on the gravel roads of Nannup.

The Belgian UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider won the title in the Netherlands with a solo effort of nearly 20km on the 180km course with 1,650 metres of climbing, with the victory finally coming after two years of taking the runner up slot at the event. This year he’ll be lining up in prime position on Sunday October 11 and with the number one on his back on a decidedly different course, and one which is also considerably further from home.

The race in the remote location of Nannup will unfold over one lap of a 140.7km loop that is heavy on gravel and also throws in 3,625m of elevation gain across a series of climbs.