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 group, 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.
Trying 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 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 huge open roads allow you to experience 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 swimsuit my strengths or the fashion of racing I thrive in.
Why I turned down UCI Gravel Worlds
After taking my third win over the weekend at The Rad Grime 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 calmly – turning down my choice for the UCI Gravel World Championships. Initially, I believed I might fly to Belgium the day after The Rad, Sunday at midday, to reach on the Brussels airport the following morning. However after I sat right 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 assist from USA Biking and restricted coordination among the many different girls chosen. I’d be compelled to navigate this journey primarily solo. No mechanic. No person on the bottom. Nothing that will permit me to carry out at my greatest. And that’s simply the beginning.
Being an impartial athlete implies that races must make monetary sense. After I regarded 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 group 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 attaining max sequence factors at The Rad Grime Fest, I’ve climbed to eleventh within the standings. With one race left, Large Sugar in Bentonville, Arkansas, the highest 10 remains to be inside attain, which implies a share in a $300,000 prize purse. Final 12 months, I completed second total at Large Sugar behind this 12 months’s Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma, once more snagging most sequence factors. A great consequence at Large Sugar might result in an enormous payday. And naturally, the ‘Gravel Rave’ afterward is epic!
Racing as a privateer has taught me so much 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 instrument, reserving lodges effectively upfront, the record goes on. It’s nonetheless not my sturdy swimsuit. 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 assist employees. Small points a group handles with ease can rapidly grow to be race-ending with out that assist. Racing with out assist looks like enjoying with fireplace.
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 ladies versus 181km (112.5 miles) for males. I perceive the argument that completely different distances could make the competitors extra equitable, permitting girls to race simply as exhausting and preserve the identical depth as the lads over a shorter distance.
Nonetheless, 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 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 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 men and women, 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 solution to allocate assets to assist American riders internationally. I can’t assist however assume 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 may nonetheless supply an amazing reward for home competitors whereas liberating up funds that may very well be used to assist Workforce USA after we compete in Europe. With that cash, USA Biking might present riders with a primary degree of assist – a mechanic, a soigneur, assist with transportation, and possibly even a spot to remain. It wouldn’t have to be extravagant, simply sufficient to make sure we will carry out at our greatest with out bearing the total monetary burden.
The Greater Image
This resolution 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 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 give attention to the place the assist and the competitors align with my profession objectives. Proper right here, within the good ol’ USA.
