Is gravel racing saving the US cycling scene? We speak to riders, team owners and event organisers to find out
From BikeRadar.com
By Ben Delaney
Two parallel trends exist in the United States at the moment: road racing, especially at the professional level, has been on a steep decline, while gravel racing, which is primarily an amateur, participatory sport, is going gangbusters.
Gone in the US are major pro stage races such as the Amgen Tour of California, the Tour de Georgia, the Tour of Utah and others – and with them the number of pro teams has dwindled.
Ten years ago, the US had 19 professional teams at the UCI level. This year, there are 11, and the major squads such as EF Education and Lidl-Trek operate almost exclusively in Europe.
At the amateur level, participation in road racing is also on the decline.
Meanwhile, gravel events continue to explode around the US, with Unbound Gravel attracting 5,000 riders, SBT GRVL selling out at 3,000 riders and scores of other events catering almost entirely to amateur participants.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
