Peter Stetina: Road pros are realising that gravel racing isn’t just a retirement programme

Gravel racing in the US continues to expand with more races on the calendar than ever before and more riders taking up the sport and investing in new equipment.

For privateer racer Peter Stetina, the general growth is welcome news, and the former WorldTour pro believes that while some race events are not quite selling out their complete ticket allocation there’s enough to be positive about as more attention falls on a blossoming discipline. 

“There are so many different ways to paint things but gravel is in a really interesting space right now,” Stetina told GCN in a recent phone call.

“I don’t think gravel has lost what made it special but there’s certainly been enough money put into it that it’s become extremely professional. Overall, it’s cool that so many riders can now make a living and for many pros, can now make a better paycheque than in the WorldTour. That shows that gravel is booming and you’ve also got more bikes being sold in gravel, and more people taking it up as a participation sport,” he added.

Stetina’s main focus since moving from the WorldTour and into gravel has centred around his own events and his determination to remain competitive. He’s still one of the elite male riders in the US, and even with an influx of competitive but welcome European road pros, Stetina believes that the professionalisation of gravel can still sit next to and work alongside the participatory element.

“Now there’s a component of gravel that’s elite-only racing without all the other ingredients that set it apart, so to speak. That’s just a natural progression of the sport and I’ve said in interviews, that it might be partly my fault as one of the first gravel pros, or these big race series starting, or the UCI coming in.

"Whatever it is, it’s a combination but now gravel is so professional. The front of the races are now very WorldTour-esque in terms of high power and everyone hopped on the gravel bandwagon with around 700 gravel events in the US last year. We’re starting to see the cream rise to the top now in that sense. It’s not a reversal but it’s more of a plateau with quality starting to thrive but the quantity starting to dip. That’s the general landscape,” he said.

Gravel in the US is still expanding but whether its found ‘its place’ in cycling, is still up for debate.

“I don’t know if there’s just ‘a place’. The road pros are realising that this isn’t just a retirement programme. It’s its own discipline and it’s hard in its own unique way. Kasia Niewiadoma and [Matej] Mohorič have both been saying this. It’s finding its place professionally and it’s breaking down that barrier in racing that thought that if it wasn’t WorldTour racing then it didn’t matter.”

Read more:

• Matej Mohorič and the pursuit of selfless cycling
• Matej Mohorič set to race Unbound Gravel in 2024

On a personal level, Stetina has announced his race programme and as you would expect it’s a blend of major race series and off-beat adventures all rolled into an action-packed 2024 season.

“I’ve announced my calendar and it’s very busy because there are so many cool adventures but I have to stay true as to why I came into the sport, which isn’t just a singular focus on a result but also the travel and seeing different parts of the world. I want to hit those main features, like the Life Time Grand Prix and Belgian Waffle rides but there are also some events in there that just talk to me,” he said.

The landscape and scope within gravel is still evolving and Stetina’s privateer stance has also changed. Thanks to key partners such as Canyon, Shimano, and Wahoo, he’s forging deeper relationships with partners, and like the race scene, it’s coming down to quality over quantity.

“Professionally, I’m still living the dream and being paid to be a bike rider. I’m lucky in that four years into this I’m consciously changing my business model. It means I can build deeper relationships with existing sponsors. That’s setting me up for my future and more rewarding because I’m doing deeper projects rather than just endorsements. It’s like with the races, it’s more about quality rather than quantity.”