Malezsewski Secures Gravel World Series Overall Crown

Lukas Malezsewski claimed the men’s elite overall title in the 2026 Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series, finishing with 1,350 points. He edged Czech rider Petr Vakoc by just 45 points after one of the closest battles of a season that spanned a record 47 qualifying events worldwide.

Crashed out, counted out

Malezsewski had made the overall ranking an explicit goal after scoring heavily in 2025. Days before the Wörthersee Gravel Race he crashed and was injured, sidelining him for almost three months. He returned only at the UCI event in Poland in early June, by which point he had largely abandoned hope of the title.

His form rebuilt slowly through Hlinsko and the summer. He planned to take the series lead at Falling Leaves Lahti in Finland, but a flat tyre with 40 kilometres to go cost him valuable points.

Tartu decides a season

The turning point came in Estonia. At the Tartu Rattamaraton on 19 September, the race’s first year as a World Series qualifier, Malezsewski won a five-rider sprint over the Otepää-to-Elva course in 3:23:39. Estonian gravel champion Kirill Tarassov finished just one second behind, with Latvia’s Maris Bogdanovics third in the same time.

Malezsewski had never raced in Estonia before. The victory moved him ahead of Vakoc in the standings. He consolidated the lead the following weekend in Sweden, and the crown was mathematically confirmed at Gravel Grit ’n Grind in Halmstad.

Earlier in the year Malezsewski won World Series rounds in Portugal and Kenya and placed second at Graean Cymru in Wales.