Diverge Podcast: World Series Build-Up and Gravel Goes Big

In Episode 8 of Season 2, the Diverge Podcast looks ahead to the UCI MTB World Series, which gets underway in Brazil on the 5^th of April. South Africans Candice Lill, Tyler Jacobs, and Luke Moir will be in action. Then on the gravel front, Nedbank Gravel Burn continues to release information on new partners, which augurs well for the first edition in October this year.

The first event of the 2025 UCI MTB World Series takes place in Araxá, which is inland and to the north of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It rained heavily on the track on Thursday, and more rain is predicted for Friday as well as for Saturday afternoon. The short track XCC races could take place during a gap in the rain, on Saturday, and it looks like it could dry up for Sunday’s XCO. How the weather affects the racing remains to be seen, but hopefully the track holds up better than the Banyoles track did in February.

South African can watch the Elite Men’s and Women’s racing on SuperSport, while the U23 events, featuring Jacobs and Moir, will be broadcast on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel.

Candice Lill in action in the 2024 UCI MTB World Series.

XCC: Saturday 5 April 2025

10:45 Local Time | 15:45 South African Time: Women U23
11:25 Local Time | 16:25 South African Time: Men U23
12:45 Local Time | 17:45 South African Time: Women Elite (SuperSport 6)
13:25 Local Time | 18:25 South African Time: Men Elite (SuperSport 6)

XCO: Sunday 6 April 2025

9:00 Local Time | 14:00 South African Time: Women U23
11:00 Local Time | 16:00 South African Time: Men U23
13:30 Local Time | 18:30 South African Time: Women Elite (SuperSport 10)
15:30 Local Time | 20:30 South African Time: Men Elite (SuperSport 10)

Nedbank Gravel Burn is attacting notable sponsors for the inaugural edition as Kevin Vermaark sells his vision to investors. Photo by Rainedupon Media.

In the Eastern Cape the building of Burn Camps is underway as the Grave Burn team work to prepare the remote race villages for 800 gravelistas taking on the inaugural event. Behind the scenes the sponsorship announcement press releases keep rolling out as Vida e Caffé, Disc-O-Bed, and Meerendal Wine Estate have all been announced as partners this week, joining Nedbank, Assos, and Amacx in the event’s sponsorship portfolio. This might not be the most interesting of news for riders, but it shows two things to the industry: the first being the general interest in gravel events from businesses, even those not affiliated directly with cycling; and secondly, the power of Gravel Burn founder, Kevin Vermaark, to seal deals.

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