The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has announced that the 2025 Gravel World Championships will not take place in Nice as previously planned.
The Championships were originally scheduled to be held on 18 October, but the governing body confirmed the rumoured cancellation yesterday.
It is now looking for a new venue and date for its mixed-surface Championships.
“The UCI and the City of Nice acknowledged the difficulties of organising the event in the capital of the French Riviera on that date, and in view of various constraints, technical and regarding the calendar, it was mutually agreed not to organise the 4th edition of the UCI worlds for gravel in Nice,” the UCI said in a statement published on its website.
The UCI says it is studying options to find a new organiser, venue and date, which “will be announced as soon as possible”.
Hosting the Gravel World Championships in Nice posed issues for the UCI.
Navigating out of the city and through Côte d’Azur would have been harder than previous editions of the race in Veneto, Italy, and Leuven, Belgium.
The decision follows pressure on the UCI regarding the 2025 Road World Championships, which are set to take place in Kigali, Rwanda.
The European Parliament called for the race's cancellation if Rwanda “does not change course” on the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
UCI president David Lappartient told Cyclingnews that there is “no plan B” for the Rwanda championships.
