TRAVERSE 10
The tenth BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy has come to a close in Romania, with Team Germany claiming the men’ s title and Team Europe taking victory in the women’ s competition after six days of demanding riding through the Carpathian Mountains.
Around 1,500 kilometres of riding, roughly half of it away from sealed roads, tested 30 riders from 13 nations across a route that combined long days in the saddle with technical trails, river crossings, steep climbs, navigation challenges and rapidly changing weather.
The 2026 event, held from September 13 to 19, returned the GS Trophy to Europe for only the second time in its history, but this was a very different proposition to the sand and open terrain of previous editions. Romania delivered dense forests, high mountain pastures, rocky tracks, mud, gravel, water crossings and narrow trails, creating what BMW described as one of the toughest editions of the event to date.
At the end of it, Team Germany – Fabian Fenner, Norman Pleissner and Florian Thomann – emerged with 203 points to take the men ' s crown. Team Europe finished second on 147, followed by Ukraine on 144, Australia on 138 and Japan on 135.
In the women ' s competition, Team Europe pairing Chrissie Harcourt of Great Britain and Anja Filak of the Netherlands scored 200 points to take the title, ahead of Team International on 184 and Australia on 164.
But while the final standings provided the headline, the story of the 2026 GS Trophy was less about outright speed than the ability to keep moving when the terrain, weather and fatigue began to take their toll.
Back to basics BMW chose“ Back to Basics” as the theme for the tenth edition, and the event certainly lived up to it.
Rather than relying on fast, flowing tracks, the Romanian route repeatedly forced riders to concentrate on the fundamentals of adventure riding – balance, throttle control, navigation, line choice and, perhaps most importantly, helping the rider beside you.
The teams were regularly on the move for 11 or 12 hours at a time, while day three alone covered more than 300 kilometres, including approximately 170 kilometres of trails. Cold temperatures, fog and wet camps added another layer of difficulty, making the ability to look after yourself and your motorcycle almost as important as riding ability.
TRAVERSE 10