Hidden plugs, new tyres, spaced out cranks and battered bikes | 2025 UCI Gravel Worlds Tech Gallery

The UCI Gravel World Championships sees World Tour road racers enter the territory of the gravel pros. The tech choices that pop up are always fascinating and change year to year based on the course. Here is the best of what we found.

Nothing to see here

Continental had new gravel tyres on display, and the Canyon SRAM team mechanic got very busy with a Sharpie as soon as we turned up with cameras.

But even more curiously, a number of Pirelli riders had the logos on their Cinturato Gravel tyres scrubbed off. 

That’s because this looks to be a brand new race tyre. The shoulder tread mirrors that of the current Cinturato Gravel RC, but the eagle eyed among you will have spotted the slick central part of the tyre, which is new.

The Alpecin-Deceuninck riders on the Belgian team were also using unbranded rims laced to Shimano’s Dura-Ace hubs.

Van der Poel was first spotted using this wheelset at last year’s event, so a new performance gravel wheelset could be on the way from the groupset giant.

Tom Pidcock was using a width of Vittoria’s Terreno Pro T30 Gravel Race tyre which isn’t yet publically available. Opinions on the tread colour were mixed among the tech journalists in the press centre.

Electrical tape still rules

When entering a bike race, the age-old rule applies. If in doubt, wrap some electrical tape around it and crack on.

Matt Holmes is seemingly fed up with losing his bottles on bumpy gravel roads. I love the idea, but in showing me how it worked, he rather spoilt the neat job.

In future, he might just want to wrap tape around his bottle cage. We see this hack each year at Paris Roubaix. Simple, clean, and well-executed. 

I very much appreciate the thoroughness of this taping job, but if Shirin Van Anrooij needed to access her C02 canisters, she’d have had a tough job getting them out of this mummification.

The Italian team prefer masking tape. In a hurry, you can rip it off, potentially giving faster access to this Vittoria Pit Stop canister.

Road components everywhere

It’s not uncommon, in any gravel race, to see a few road components being used. Some riders prefer road pedals, for example. But nowhere will you see more road equipment being used off-road than at the UCI Gravel Worlds.

Shiamno’s Dura-Ace groupset was a common sight. Most riders opting for this groupset chose to use a 2x setup with 52x36T chainring combinations being the most common.

That said, a few road teams, like Alpecin-Deceuninck, opted for older components on their gravel setups, simply because that’s what they have available.

But other riders fitted 1x chainrings. The course featured very few extended climbs, so there was little reason to have an inner ring. 

SRAM athletes, such as Tom Pidcock, were almost universally on 1x drivetrains, though SRAM produces specific setups. Still though, he used Dura-Ace road pedals.

Former World Tour rider, Mads Würtz Schmidt, chose Enve’s SES 4.5 road wheels. With a 25mm inner rim width, they’re plenty wide enough for his 45mm Specialized Pathfinder tyres.

However, even when I saw trade teammates on national teams, riders opted for their preferred groupset. Here, two AG Soudal riders on the Belgian team show different preferences for shifters. 

With Australia hosting the 2026 UCI Gravel Worlds, this trend could change.

Skinny, semi-slick tyres

While we see plenty of narrow XC MTB tyres at North American gravel races, the fine dirt, which has defined recent editions of the UCI Gravel Worlds, calls for skinnier tyre setups.

Tom Pidcock was notable in his decision to use 35mm tyres. His Vittoria Terreno Pro T30 tyres feature a very compact shoulder tread.

Second in the men’s elite event, Matej Mohoric also opted for very little in the way of tread. His new Continetal tyres, however, were 10mm wider than Pidcock’s.

My favourite tyre prize, however, goes to Marianne Vos for the beautiful Vittoria Corsa Pro Control. She used this slick tyre in a 42mm size, something you can only get if you buy a Cervelo Aspero-5. Hopefully Vittoria affords the rest of us the option soon.

Tight clearances

While few riders were pushing the limits of tyre clearance, I saw plenty of chainrings barely passing worried-looking chainstays.

Pidcock fitted a 50T aero chainring to his Pinarello Dogma GR. For anything larger, he’d have needed spacers on the crank axle.

Which is exactly what Silas Koech did. His 50T chainring was still very close to the driveside chainstay on his unreleased Dare gravel bike.

Daan Soete didn’t have much room on his Ridley to go bigger than this 50T Wolf Tooth aero chainring.

No baggies here

Aero clothing could be spotted on nearly every rider, with aero shoe covers, aero mitts and aero helmets being common sights. 

While many casual gravel riders embrace the spirit of freedom with loose-fitting clothes and bar bags, the speed of the Gravel Worlds meant riders tried to optimise every part of their bike.

White aero shoe covers were everywhere, which might seem like an odd choice for an off-road discipline, but that’s the current fashion.

Aero helmets are also common, but while loads of development has been poured into this crucial piece of equipment in recent years, Giant’s Pursuit model dates back to 2018.

Winner of the men’s elite race, Belgium’s Florian Vermeersch, even donned aero mitts.

Apply some pressure

Everywhere we went, mechanics were double and triple checking tyre pressure. With no suspension to be seen, riders relied on optimal tyre setup to given them speed, grip and a little comfort.

The need for accurate pressure readings saw a number of mechanics inflating tyres using electronic systems such as this Fumpa Pump. Despite their digital gauges, most mechanics then double-checked the number using a separate digital pressure gauge.

Battered bikes

Gravel bikes, ridden and raced at speed, take a battering. This downtube might need more than one pot of touch-up paint.

Despite being only a few rides old, the chainstay on this unreleased Merida Mission Gravel has already experienced a fair few heel strikes.

After a few busy days hunting bike tech, this fork crown looks how I feel. 

But I’ve saved the best until last. While photographing Daan Soete’s bike, he wandered over and casually told us he had this tubeless plug hidden away in the crank axle. It’s a very neat trick which those of you with GRX cranks can copy at home.