Sophie Wright: The Vision Behind Gravel North
We caught up with co-founder of Gravel North – Sophie Wright – following her win in the opening French round of the Gravel World Series, her second win of 2026 so far. Sophie won in flamboyant style after making her move before the halfway point of the race, winning by a huge margin!
SW: I’ve always loved riding bikes; mountain bikes, road, cyclocross, as long as it’s got two wheels I’m all in! What got me into gravel was a period of reflection as I was riding in the pro peloton of the women’s World Tour for 6 years. I was spending my days training hard but always working for other people in the races as my job was a domestique. This was a fantastic experience to work for the best riders in the world, but as time went on I began to miss the individual aspect from my off-road racing days.
I never really got the opportunity to go for a top result myself, and my main motivation is standing on the podium or winning! So when the opportunity to become a professional gravel racer came up, I chose to give this a go as it combines the technical aspect from MTB with the endurance and tactics of road, so seemed the perfect fit!
And to be able to ride for myself, as soon as the gun goes off, using my racing instinct without a DS giving me orders from the follow car, was fantastic! Happy head = happy legs.
GN: What do you love about gravel?
SW: It’s just so cool; it’s so fun. It plays to my strengths as I can ride pretty much anything technically and love a bit of gnarly parkour! But more than that – every race is an adventure. You don’t know what you’re going to get and it’s unpredictable. Also, it’s definitely a sport at the beginning of lots of evolution and being in at the start is kinda cool, no?
The elite field is becoming more and more competitive every year as gravel evolves and more sponsors/brands come on board. It's great to be sharing the love of gravel with the age groupers who also race the same courses as us.
GN: Love that. So where did the idea for Gravel North come from?
SW: I had the privilege of riding the first edition of Gravel Burn in South Africa, and it was amazing. Truly special. Literally on one stage I was riding through a herd of giraffes! And I thought, this is the way forward. Gravel stage racing, exploring new places and really immersing myself into the land. And then I thought, what about the UK, what about all of the amazing landscapes the UK has to offer? Why isn’t there such a thing here?
GN: And?
SW: And so yeah we just went for it – a few of us got together and thought – let’s just put something out there! It might succeed; it might not, but who cares – let’s just put something on for people who want adventure! It will be so cool.
GN: And that was it?
SW: Yeah that was it – Gravel North was born! To be honest none of us know if it will succeed but I do know that the routes will be amazing and being able to ride for multiple days in the most spectacular setting in the whole world will be amazing. I mean, Scotland invented gravel right!?
GN: Yes, and golf? Anyways, what tips do you give people who will ride in 2027?
SW: OMG yeah, just enjoy it, just revel in it. Whatever Scotland throws at you, just go with it. We all know the weather is questionable at best, but nothing a base layer or two can’t fix. For your bike – just ride big tyres! Other than that, just enjoy it. It’s going to be something special and truly unique.
GN: Will you win the first edition in 2027?
SW: Well I’m sure going to try! In fairness I have an advantage because I get to ride the test event in 2026 so I can get used to all the gravel and all the lines.
GN: Possibly, possibly not – there is so much gravel to go at we might change it all up for 2027! But we back you Sophie, we definitely back you!