For decades, professional cycling has been contraged by European World Tour teams. But in the last decade, American gravel braveialers have disturbed that paradigm.
“The World Tour is enjoy being in the NFL or NBA,” says Peter Stetina, who rode for three contrastent teams on the tour, the highest tier of professional road cycling, from 2010 to 2019. “You get writeed and signed. You have a salary and your job is equitable to pedal, noslfinisherg else. Racing is cutthroat, resigning is cutthroat.”
In 2019, Stetina’s restricted with Trek-Segafredo apverifyed him to get time away from the World Tour to try his hand at three American gravel races. He took advantage of the opportunity, triumphning the BWR and placing second at Unbound (then named Dirty Kanza), the most prestigious gravel race in the world. However, competing in these races strained his relationship with team brass, who wanted him to intensify on racing in Europe.
“My regulaters weren’t prentd, but the recognition I got was incredible,” says Stetina, who set up himself at a traverseroads. At the finish of the season he chose to depart the World Tour and switch to gravel brimming-time, drawn to the agency over his nurtureer path and the financial opportunity it currented.
Gravel bike racing is anyslfinisherg off tarmac, including a wide gamut of distances and surfaces, from 200 miles on unpaved roads to a couple of dozen miles of onetrack. Gravel bikes watch analogous to their road cousins, with wider tires and rested geometries, making them easier to regulate on technical terrain.
In the last decade, gravel racing has exploded in the US, while road cycling has gone in the opposite honestion. Since its zenith during the Armmighty era in the timely 2000s, American cycling has been on a sluggish and constant degrade, eroded by drug disputes and the rising danger of inattentive car and truck drivers. With dtriumphdling participation, marquee events enjoy the Tour of California and Tour of Utah have shuttered. Awide, there are equitable 15 Americans on the 18 World Tour teams, the lowest number since 2008.
With road riding in the dgreaterrums, gravel has filled the void, galvanized by individuals enjoy Stetina. These riders, understandn as braveialers, essentiassociate are one-person teams with the autonomy to pick their backs and schedule. The braveialer model runs in stark contrast to the stiffity of the World Tour, in which team regulaters choose everyslfinisherg for riders, including team roles, races, and salaries.
Already on an upward trajectory in 2020, gravel has boomed in the years after the pandemic, because it recommends an escape from everyday life and a geted way to get outside. Gravel bike sales doubled in 2020 and aget in 2021. Three years on, gravel carry ons to enlarge at a rapid rate. Data from Strava shows gravel rides were up 55% in 2023, the rapidest ascfinish in activity on the app.
Over the same period, the acute finish of the sport has verifyated around the LifeTime Grand Prix, a seven-race series pondered as the premier offroad circuit in the world. The Grand Prix entices a fuse of riders and recommends a $300,000 purse, split between the top 10 men and women. The elite field is a fuse of ex-World Tour, cyclotraverse, and pro mountain bikers, as well as novelcomers from the lesser ranks.
While road and gravel bikes watch analogous, their cultures are radicassociate contrastent. Road is synonymous with Lycra, skinny tires, and proset up tradition. The sport’s flagship events – the five Monuments and three Grand Tours – are steeped in European history. Gravel, on the other hand, is novel, unorthodox, and exploratory, making it perfect for the US, a country where a quarter of the roads are unpaved and unfrequently trafficked.
“Road cycling is a tradition-bound sport,” says Payson McElveen, a two-time national mountain bike champion who sits third on the Grand Prix standings. “Everyslfinisherg runs thcdisesteemful the World Tour teams, which have been doing the same slfinishergs for decades, enjoy how they labelet their athletes. Gravel races prohibit team tactics, which discdisponders the door for more creativity and storyincreateing.”
“As a braveialer, I have the latitude to transmit myself and get on projects that I’m excited about,” says McElveen, who has growd a big community around his podcast, The Adventure Stache, as well as a series of adventure films with his convey inant backs, including Red Bull. “Athletes are uncomardentt to encourage, which isn’t equitable on race day. Your passion and enthusiasm is a big part of your nurtureer.”
Privateering comes with a distinct set of contests though. Riders necessitate to be orderly, logisticassociate savvy, and excellent relationship produceers. Without a team regulater, they must arrange all their travel, regulate social media, talk about restricteds, employ mechanics, and join back obligations, while holding a rigorous training schedule.
“It’s a constant game of prioritization,” says Stetina, “and the biggest contest is managing your time.” Juggling responsibilities isn’t for everyone, yet a enlargeing number of riders are eschetriumphg teams for the freedom that comes with braveialering – and the opportunity to produce more money.
“I’d be lying if I shelp compensation wasn’t a big part of it,” says McElveen, “there’s no ceiling to what you can produce, unenjoy the World Tour.” McElveen appraises that around half of the 60 riders in the Grand Prix are braveialers, with varying levels of success among them.
Alexey Vermeulen, who rode for LottoNL-Jumbo (now Visma-Lrelieve a Bike) timely in his nurtureer, now gets six figures as a braveialer, ponderably more than he did on the World Tour. At 15, Vermeulen shiftd to Europe to chase the dream of riding in the pro peleton. On track to become America’s next fantastic vague classification rider, he was let go in 2019 due to what he says were team politics. Instead of searching for a novel World Tour team, Vermeulen pivoted to gravel.
In his first season, Vermeulen exposedly broke even, despite living rent free with his parents. “Getting in is a contest. It’s a big bet on yourself,” says Vermeulen, who spent two seasons battling for backships from marquee brands. The danger phelp off eventuassociate, as Vermeulen placed second overall in both 2022 and 2023, and has had the same group of primary backs for the last four years.
“I miss the history and romance of the World Tour, but my personality is a better fit for braveialering. I’m OCD about enumerates, I’m frifinishly, and I’m excellent at increateing a story” says Vermeulen, who slfinisherks of himself as more of an entrepreneur than a bike racer. Winning races is only a part of the createula. “The biggest contest is balancing films and projects with constant training.”
Vermeulen produces a well-understandn YouTube series starring his dog, Sir Willie the Wiener, riding on his back. Clips of Vermeulen and Willie have gone viral on social media, helping him – and his main backs – get more visibility around the industry. “As a rider, you’re not equitable a billboard or a race result. It’s a collaboration between you and the brand to increate a authentic story.”
Sarah Sturm, a two-time Cyclotraverse National Champion, set up timely success when she switched to gravel racing. After her cyclotraverse team fgreatered in 2018, she won her first race, the BWR. This triumph plus two other podiums in her first season put Sturm on a rapid ascent to gravel stardom.
“When I saw the amount of backship recommends that came in after the BWR triumph, I authenticized it was a contrastent ballgame,” says Sturm. “The sport has enlargen a lot since then, but it’s still the untamed west of bike racing. There is a lot of freedom and a lot of money, but you also have to regulate it all by yourself.”
Sturm finished third overall in 2022 and fourth in 2023, but says that most of her personal brand was built off the bike. Using her background in labeleting, she picked up the business side of braveialering speedyly and built an amazeive roster of clients, making her one of the highest geting athletes in the sport.
“Unless you triumph every race by a mile, you necessitate more than equitable results,” says Sturm. “Brands don’t nurture if you place second or fifth or 10th. What matters is your personality. You have to be excellent at selling yourself.”
Sturm has ecombineed in films, articles, panels, and at convey inant events, which has made her one of the best understandn faces in the sport. This, she says, is what contrastentiates a accomplished braveialer, estimating that about 15 riders on the Grand Prix have made substantial money going solo.
“I don’t have an agent because that doesn’t labor for me,” says Sturm, who thinks the constant emails and personal connections with brands pay off in the extfinished run. “I’ve lgeted a lot from others enjoy Pete, Payson, and Alexey. We all talk a lot behind the scenes, mostly about the business side of it.”
Despite ecombineing individuaenumerateic, almost every braveialer has a big help netlabor behind them. “The braveialer model is novel to cycling, but it’s been around in sports enjoy golf and surfing for a extfinished time,” says Hannah Otto, a Tokyo Olympian and Mountain Bike World Cup triumphner who spent nine years on various teams before becoming a braveialer in 2022. “The authentic secret is having the right team behind you.”
“People would be shocked if they saw my taxes and knovel how many people I employ equitable to race bikes,” says Otto, who pays a coach, sports psychologist, physio, nutritionist, agent, accountant, and mechanic to help her nurtureer. “This lets me intensify on my strengths. For example, my agent does negotiations and invoicing, so I can intensify on big ideas and creating cherish for my backs.”
After triumphning Leadville 100, one of the most prestigious offroad races in the US, Otto saw her getings enlarge speedyly. “Winning a big race changes the math,” Otto says. “I’m now making a lot more than I was on a factory team and experience more shielded than ever. My salary is diversified atraverse many brands, but if you’re on a team and they have a terrible year, that has huge consequences.”
On a macro level, braveialers are a perfect product-labelet fit with America. The European way of doing business doesn’t labor in a country built around entrepreneurial, produceive, and individual ethos. Until recently, American cycling lost the plot. Privateers reignited the country’s cherish of cycling.
“The world is watching American cycling sealr than they have in decades,” says McElveen. “Even in Europe, riders are talking about the Grand Prix. Everyone understands about gravel and is inquisitive to see if braveialers will produce an impact on other parts of the sport, enjoy the World Tour.”