One cafe owner in Nannup sold five days’ worth of milk in a single day. Hayley Rubery reported revenue 700 per cent higher than on a normal Friday, a windfall for the small Western Australian town as it hosted the 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships.
Nannup sits about 268 kilometres south of Perth. It became the first location outside Europe to stage an elite gravel cycling world championship. Thousands of cyclists and spectators made the trip, while just under 1,000 riders raced through the Blackwood Valley over the weekend. Organisers expected a global audience of up to 130 million people.
Years in the Making
The prize didn’t simply fall into the town’s lap. Shire of Nannup Deputy President Vicki Hansen said securing the championships had taken years of work. “Not many people even knew how to pronounce Nannup,” she said. “Now, Nannup, Western Australia is across the world.”
The town made its pitch using assets it already had. Shire President Tony Dean said Nannup sits 70 metres above sea level, while the land climbs to 300 metres within a kilometre or less, giving riders the gravel terrain they want. The historic timber town has built a reputation as a mountain-biking destination. Hansen said the hope now is that international riders who didn’t qualify will visit after seeing the event.
The Racing
Competitors rode courses of up to 144 kilometres over two days. Dutch cyclist Marianne Vos took the elite women’s title in 4 hours and 30 minutes, ahead of Germany’s Rose Kloser and the Netherlands’ Larisa Hartog. Vos claimed her second gravel world championship victory. Denmark’s Magnus Bak Klaris won the elite men’s title in 4 hours and 9 minutes, upsetting 2025 champion Florian Vermeersch.
This was the championships’ fifth edition. Italy and Belgium hosted earlier ones.
A Long Way to Come
Riders didn’t let the distance deter them. Wendy Oosterwoud travelled from the Netherlands, a journey that took almost 30 hours and marked her first trip outside Europe. “I think the flight was 21 hours, the drive to Amsterdam was almost two hours, [and] from Perth to Nannup was almost three,” she said. She’d claimed seven podium titles, including a win in the women’s elite event at a gravel world series in Poland this year, 2026. She liked the wide gravel roads, unlike those in the Netherlands, where she said there were “I think, 200 corners, left right, left right.”
German cyclist Nils Lageman came from near Cologne to race the 35-39 age group. “The world championships were calling, and I just had to respond, wherever it is,” he said. US cyclists Tim Borsetti, Mark Litrell and John Steward hadn’t heard of Nannup before the event. Borsetti said he targeted the race because “you guys have big wide roads like we do in the States.”
Business Gets Busy
Nannup’s regular population is about 1,000, and local accommodation filled up. The market found ways to cope. Dean said a tent city and visitors staying in nearby towns helped spread demand. “We’re spreading the love between Nannup and the rest of the South West,” he said. “With that many visitors, they’re going to have to commute, unfortunately.”
Rubery said it was one of the busiest days she could remember. “It’s insane,” she said. “We sold five days’ worth of milk in one day, and we’ve never made more toasties in our entire lives.” The town had hosted smaller arts and culture festivals before, but locals didn’t know what to expect. “We prepped anyway and thank God we did,” Rubery said.
Why This Matters:
Nannup’s story shows what happens when a small community backs its strengths and lets private operators respond to demand. The shire spent years courting the event, but the payoff appeared in cafe tills, tent-city logistics and neighbouring towns taking overflow visitors. No central planner arranged that. Businesses prepared, guessed right and capitalised. The longer-term test is whether one weekend of global exposure brings repeat tourism, the hope Hansen voiced. For regional Australia, the lesson is practical: distinctive local assets, patient work and flexible private enterprise can put a town of 1,000 on the world map without a heavy public hand.