I competed within the first-ever 2022 UCI Gravel World Championships in Veneto, Italy. Again 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 help – so I might deal with what I do finest, racing my bike.
Wanting again, I want we might obtain related help from the Nationwide Federation. It’s robust whenever 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 Biking might do extra to help athletes, particularly those that don’t have groups to deal with the logistics.
The racing itself at Worlds was additionally a special expertise. It’s not just like the gravel racing I really like right here within the US, the place huge open roads allow you to trip solo for miles. As an alternative, 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 Filth Fest in Trinidad, CO, the fifth and penultimate cease of the Life Time Grand Prix (LTGP), I discover myself reflecting on a call I didn’t make evenly – turning down my choice for the UCI Gravel World Championships. Initially, I assumed I might fly to Belgium the day after The Rad, Sunday at midday, to reach on the Brussels airport the subsequent morning. However after I sat all the way down to map out the logistics, the journey rapidly turned a nightmare, and in the end, it didn’t make sense, financially or in any other case.
The hurdles grew overwhelming with out help from USA Biking and restricted coordination among the many different ladies chosen. I might be compelled to navigate this journey primarily solo. No mechanic. No person on the bottom. Nothing that will enable me to carry out at my finest. And that’s simply the beginning.
Being an impartial athlete signifies that races must make monetary sense. Once I seemed on the numbers, UCI Worlds turned much less interesting. The price of journey, lodging, bike transport, and the extra bills of managing my logistics in a point-to-point race rapidly grew. With out workforce help, an precise shot on the rainbow jersey appears slim.
Alternatively, the Life Time Grand Prix sequence provides substantial monetary incentives that may maintain my racing profession. By reaching max sequence factors at The Rad Filth Fest, I’ve climbed to eleventh within the standings. With one race left, Huge Sugar in Bentonville, Arkansas, the highest 10 continues to be inside attain, which suggests a share in a $300,000 prize purse. Final 12 months, I completed second total at Huge Sugar behind this 12 months’s Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma, once more snagging most sequence factors. end result at Huge Sugar might result in a giant payday. And naturally, the ‘Gravel Rave’ afterward is epic!
Racing as a privateer has taught me rather a lot about self-reliance in addition to the boundaries of self-reliance. As a lot as I’ve discovered about taking good care of my very own gear – between organising tubeless tyres, waxing chains, utilizing a derailleur alignment device, reserving motels properly prematurely, the checklist goes on. It’s nonetheless not my sturdy go well with. A number of of my experiences as a privateer – Leadville MTB 100, SBT GRVL – all made me rethink my readiness to go to Belgium with out a devoted mechanic or help workers. Small points a workforce handles with ease can rapidly grow to be race-ending with out that assist. Racing with out help appears like taking part in with hearth.
Gravel World Championships, Gravel Worlds and US Gravel
Let’s discuss in regards to 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 completely different distances could make the competitors extra equitable, permitting ladies to race simply as onerous and preserve the identical depth as the boys over a shorter distance.
Nonetheless, I imagine 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 situations. 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 men and women raced 211.4km (131.4 miles). And on the authentic 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 toes) of climbing, and each races had stay streaming for equal race protection.
US Gravel Nationals supplied a $40,000 prize purse, an enormous incentive for racers. There was a complete prize purse of $30,000, shared equally between elite men and women, on the Worlds occasion in Nebraska.
Rethinking the Gravel Nationals Prize Purse
As a lot as I really like gravel racing within the US, I imagine there’s a greater approach to allocate assets to help American riders internationally. I can’t assist however suppose that the $40,000 that was cut up evenly among the many elite divisions at Nationals might have been spent extra strategically. The primary-place prize of $10,000 for the highest lady, and the identical for the highest man, is substantial, however within the broader image, it feels extreme when our Nationwide Federation struggles to fund riders at UCI Gravel World Championships.
With these monetary struggles in thoughts, what if, as a substitute 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 might nonetheless provide an important reward for home competitors whereas releasing up funds that could possibly be used to help Workforce USA once we compete in Europe. With that cash, USA Biking might present riders with a fundamental degree of help – a mechanic, a soigneur, assist with transportation, and perhaps even a spot to remain. It wouldn’t should be extravagant, simply sufficient to make sure we will carry out at our greatest with out bearing the complete monetary burden.
The Larger Image
This determination wasn’t nearly one race; it was in regards to the larger 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 centered 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 really like representing my nation and searching ahead, I hope it makes extra sense logistically and financially to compete at a UCI World Championships. However for now, I’ll deal with the place the help and the competitors align with my profession objectives. Proper right here, within the good ol’ USA.