A Record 48 Events Worldwide!
The 5th edition of the Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series – the UCI’s mass-participation gravel series where elite riders compete alongside amateurs aiming to qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships – will feature 15 new events in 2026, bringing the total to 48. The 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships are scheduled for 10–11 October in Nannup, Western Australia.

The final new event on the calendar, The Gravel of Marathon, will take place in the historic Greek city of Marathon — famously linked to the origins of long-distance running discipline.
With 48 races, the 2026 Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series continues to expand, blending experienced organizers with exciting new events across 33 countries and all five continents. With the help of its partners Gravelking, Shimano and Santini, 2026, will be another great season for the Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series.

On Sunday, November 15, 2026, in the historic town of Marathon — the place where the famous Battle of Marathon was fought around 2.500 years ago — cyclists from around the world will have the chance to experience an unforgettable gravel adventure, “The Gravel of Marathon,” for the very first time in Greece.

This will be the first UCI Gravel World Series race to take place in the country, following the great success of the “Megalopolis Gravel Classic” in Arcadia and the “Amarantos Gravel Experience” in the Agrafa mountains of Thessaly. It is organized by the MBike team, the leading cycling media platform in Greece and the organizer of the Athens Bike Festival since 2010.

Marathon is a municipality in eastern Attica, located about 40 kilometers from Athens. The area is famous for the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, a moment considered crucial for the future of Europe. The victory over the Persians allowed the Ancient Greek civilization to continue to develop and ultimately set the foundations of the modern Western world.

Today, Marathon is also known worldwide for the Classic Marathon route of 42,195 kilometers, which attracts more than 60.000 runners every year from all over the world.

The region is blessed with natural beauty, such as the sandy coastline and pine forest of Schinias, as well as the artificial Lake Marathon, which will serve as the main terrain for “The Gravel of Marathon.”

Participants can choose between two demanding routes: the long course of 121 km with 2.020 meters of elevation gain, and the shorter 86 km course, with 1.430 meters of elevation gain. Both routes are roughly 90% off-road. From the long route, qualification spots for the 2027 UCI Gravel World Championships will be awarded to elite men and women, as well as men aged 19–59 and women aged 19–49. From the shorter route, qualification will be available for men aged 60+ and women aged 50+.

Both courses start at the Marathon Stadium. Riders cross the town and soon begin a gentle four-kilometer climb that ends with a small surprise: a 300 meter concrete wall where the gradient reaches 12%.

They then enter a beautiful five kilometer gravel section through nature and along the shores of Lake Marathon, on soft terrain that continues into farm roads where rough and smoother gravel alternate constantly. After completing the loop around the lake and crossing a shallow stream, riders tackle a 600-meter climb with gradients up to 11%.

In the final 1.5 kilometers, the route returns to asphalt, passing over the iconic Marathon Dam to complete the first 36-kilometer loop. The long course includes this loop three times, while the shorter course includes it twice.

“The Gravel of Marathon” finishes in the center of Marathon, where every rider will feel the satisfaction of having fought their own personal “Battle of Marathon,” this time with bicycles as their “weapons” and gravel roads as their “battlefield.”

Registration open

You can register for the 121 or the 86 kilometer routes through the ENDU registration platform.

Registration for all rider categories defined by the UCI Gravel World Championships regulations.

Αccommodation

The area offers a wide range of accommodation options, from hotels of all categories to rental rooms and Airbnbs, all close to the start area.

Even in November, staying in Marathon can easily be combined with a swim at the beautiful Schinias beach, as well as visits to historic sites such as the Archaeological Museum of Marathon, the battlefield and burial mound, the Marathon Run Museum and even the European Bread Museum.

It can also be combined with participation in the Athens Marathon, which will take place exactly one week earlier, on November 8, 2026.

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