Well, we’ll see on April 11. His debut race in the gravel discipline will happen in Granada, Spain. I’m sure he’s not going and trying to win outright, but more just for fun and to see where he might fit. At least that’s what I would think, but who knows. His strength in XCO was always his serious power abilities over an hour or so. But, he did well enough at the Cape Epic, which had him on the gas for 3-4 hours at times. He’s clearly got the engine to do anything on a bike well.
I know he dabbles very briefly on the road early in his career, but other than that, we really haven’t seen him doing anything else except some training on a road bike. I think this could be fun to see how someone so talented on a mountain bike, try something that does not require those types of skills. His bike handling is legendary, but do you need much of that when pounding out miles and miles on dirt roads? In a group no less?
I’m likely way over thinking this. He’s retired, and wants to do some events he couldn’t really do previously. I get that. I wish him well. I’d love to see him be a proper XCMarathon world champ at some point though. I think at his age, still pretty darn young, and at longer distances, he could add yet a few more rainbow stripes to his list.
Check this race out at the link below. It does look absolutely incredible. The hills, the dirt, the scenery is stunning. Man that looks fun. It also looks very hilly. I can see the attraction though.
