Monuments of Cycling has announced the prize purse for the Belgian Waffle Ride will be the largest ever for a gravel race with over $50,000 in cash and prizes being distributed between the top five men and women, inclusive of a $5,000 purse and prizes for the top three junior riders, 18 and under, who compete in the Waffle. The BWR CA is the first stop of the 2022 Quadrupel Crown of Gravel Series, which will feature its own soon-to-be-announced prize purse for the top four male and female riders with the lowest cumulative times for the four-race series. The Quad includes the Hell of the North, South, East and (Mid) West.
Created as an extremely challenging race in the spirit of the great European one-day Spring Classics, the BWR is known as the most unique cycling event in the country for its incredibly dynamic multi-surface parcourse replete with dirt, sand, rocks, gravel, water crossings and even some asphalt. There will be three distances on offer in CA, the longer Waffle event on Saturday, April 30, with the half-as-long Wafer and even shorter Wanna rides being held the next day, Sunday, May 1 at North City in San Marcos, CA. Riders can even participate in the ‘Dubbel Header’ by competing in both the Waffle and Wafer events on back-to-back days.
The BWR CA is the kick-off to the Quadrupel Crown of Gravel Series, which is the largest series of its kind in the world. There will be an overall prize purse for the series, which will be published in February and include a series payout for the most consistent top four (quad) male and female riders across all the events.
- 11th Annual BWR CA in San Diego on April 29 – May 1, 2022
- 2nd Annual BWR NC in Asheville on June 10 – 11, 2022
- 3rd Annual BWR UT in Cedar City on September 23 – 24, 2022
- 2nd Annual BWR KS in Lawrence on October 14 – 16, 2022
Each venue of the Quadrupel Crown will showcase a new course for riders to test themselves. Most notable are the changes to the BWR CA course, which will include numerous new and technically challenging sectors. All the new routes will have added mileage and, most importantly, technical sectors that require both great bike handling skills as well as bikes and tires that can handle the varied terrain that has become the hallmark of the BWR. Also, each venue will feature a separate prize purse for age categories that have heretofore not been offered…
- BWR CA – top five elite riders and top three junior riders
- BWR NC – top three elite riders and top three junior riders
- BWR UT – top three elite riders and top three 45+ riders
- BWR KS – top three elite riders and top three co-ed teams of two (must ride and finish together)
Photo courtesy Belgian Waffle Ride
