I competed within the first-ever 2022 UCI Gravel World Championships in Veneto, Italy. Back then, I wasn’t racing as a privateer, I used to be a part of a workforce, which helped ease the logistical burden of racing in Europe.
They dealt with the necessities – journey planning, bike transport, and in-race assist – so I might give attention to what I do greatest, racing my bike.
Looking again, I want we might obtain comparable help from the National Federation. It’s powerful while you’re anticipated to compete on the world stage, however you don’t have the backing to make it possible. Albeit missing funds in an Olympic 12 months, I want USA Cycling might do extra to assist athletes, particularly those that don’t have groups to deal with the logistics.
The racing itself at Worlds was additionally a distinct expertise. It’s not just like the gravel racing I like right here within the US, the place large open roads allow you to journey solo for miles. Instead, the course was tight, with slim bike paths and fixed turns. I’ve seen footage from this 12 months’s course in Belgium, and it’s extra of the identical, which doesn’t go well with my strengths or the model of racing I thrive in.
Why I turned down UCI Gravel Worlds
After taking my third win over the weekend at The Rad Dirt Fest in Trinidad, CO, the fifth and penultimate cease of the Life Time Grand Prix (LTGP), I discover myself reflecting on a choice I didn’t make frivolously – turning down my choice for the UCI Gravel World Championships. Originally, I assumed I might fly to Belgium the day after The Rad, Sunday at midday, to reach on the Brussels airport the following morning. But after I sat all the way down to map out the logistics, the journey rapidly grew to become a nightmare, and finally, it didn’t make sense, financially or in any other case.
The hurdles grew overwhelming with out assist from USA Cycling and restricted coordination among the many different ladies chosen. I’d be compelled to navigate this journey basically solo. No mechanic. Nobody on the bottom. Nothing that might enable me to carry out at my greatest. And that’s simply the beginning.
Being an unbiased athlete signifies that races must make monetary sense. When I seemed on the numbers, UCI Worlds grew to become much less interesting. The value of journey, lodging, bike transport, and the extra bills of managing my logistics in a point-to-point race rapidly grew. Without workforce assist, an precise shot on the rainbow jersey appears slim.
Alternatively, the Life Time Grand Prix sequence gives substantial monetary incentives that may maintain my racing profession. By reaching max sequence factors at The Rad Dirt Fest, I’ve climbed to eleventh within the standings. With one race left, Big Sugar in Bentonville, Arkansas, the highest 10 continues to be inside attain, which suggests a share in a $300,000 prize purse. Last 12 months, I completed second general at Big Sugar behind this 12 months’s Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma, once more snagging most sequence factors. A great end result at Big Sugar might result in an enormous payday. And after all, the ‘Gravel Rave’ afterward is epic!
Racing as a privateer has taught me rather a lot about self-reliance in addition to the bounds of self-reliance. As a lot as I’ve discovered about caring for my very own tools – between organising tubeless tyres, waxing chains, utilizing a derailleur alignment device, reserving inns nicely prematurely, the record goes on. It’s nonetheless not my robust go well with. Several of my experiences as a privateer – Leadville MTB 100, SBT GRVL – all made me rethink my readiness to go to Belgium and not using a devoted mechanic or assist employees. Small points a workforce handles with ease can rapidly develop into race-ending with out that assist. Racing with out assist looks like enjoying with hearth.
Gravel World Championships, Gravel Worlds and US Gravel
Let’s discuss concerning the discrepancy in race size between women and men at UCI Gravel World Championships, which is about 134km (81 miles) for girls versus 181km (112.5 miles) for males. I perceive the argument that totally different distances could make the competitors extra equitable, permitting ladies to race simply as exhausting and keep the identical depth as the lads over a shorter distance.
However, I consider within the spirit of gravel, the place inclusivity and equality are on the core. Gravel is about everybody, no matter gender, racing the identical course below the identical circumstances. True equality means women and men ought to race the identical distance as a result of that’s the essence of gravel, with everybody competing on equal phrases, pushing themselves and one another.
At US Gravel Nationals, each ladies and men raced 211.4km (131.4 miles). And on the unique Gravel Worlds, which stays in Lincoln, Nebraska, the women and men each raced 244.6km (152 miles). That race had over 3,048 metres (10,000 ft) of climbing, and each races had dwell streaming for equal race protection.
US Gravel Nationals provided a $40,000 prize purse, an enormous incentive for racers. There was a complete prize purse of $30,000, shared equally between elite ladies and men, on the Worlds occasion in Nebraska.
Rethinking the Gravel Nationals Prize Purse
As a lot as I like gravel racing within the US, I consider there’s a greater method to allocate assets to assist American riders internationally. I can’t assist however assume that the $40,000 that was break up evenly among the many elite divisions at Nationals might have been spent extra strategically. The first-place prize of $10,000 for the highest girl, and the identical for the highest man, is substantial, however within the broader image, it feels extreme when our National Federation struggles to fund riders at UCI Gravel World Championships.
With these monetary struggles in thoughts, what if, as an alternative of providing such a excessive payout, the prize for first place was scaled again to $2,000, with the descending prize cash adjusted accordingly? That would nonetheless supply an important reward for home competitors whereas liberating up funds that could possibly be used to assist Team USA after we compete in Europe. With that cash, USA Cycling might present riders with a fundamental stage of assist – a mechanic, a soigneur, assist with transportation, and possibly even a spot to remain. It wouldn’t must be extravagant, simply sufficient to make sure we will carry out at our greatest with out bearing the total monetary burden.
The Bigger Picture
This determination wasn’t nearly one race; it was concerning the greater image. Racing within the US, particularly with the Life Time Grand Prix, permits me to proceed constructing my profession. Financially, logistically, and competitively, it makes extra sense to remain targeted on the alternatives right here. Gravel is rising quickly within the US, and I need to be a part of that progress, to push myself in occasions that problem me whereas making it sustainable.
I like representing my nation and looking out ahead, I hope it makes extra sense logistically and financially to compete at a UCI World Championships. But for now, I’ll give attention to the place the assist and the competitors align with my profession objectives. Right right here, within the good ol’ USA.