VN Pod, ep. 165: Peter Stetina goes gravel racing; Patrick Redford on covering cycling for Deadspin

What types of bicycle racing stories appeal to a mainstream sports audience? It's a topic we've often thought about here at VeloNews. On this week's episode of The VeloNews Podcast, we speak with Patrick Redford, who covered pro cycling for the sports website Deadspin.com. Patrick also takes us through the fateful past few months at Deadspin, which saw the entire editorial staff resign after the outlet's ownership tried to alter its focus and voice. Before we hear from Redford, Fred Dreier and Andrew Hood discuss the week's biggest story, which was that WorldTour veteran Peter Stetina will become a full-time gravel racer in 2020. Stetina is trading the Tour de France for Dirty Kanza, the Belgian Waffle Ride, and other big gravel events, and he's doing so in his relative prime, at age 33. What does this news, when matched with the cancellation of the Amgen Tour of California, tell us about the state of U.S. bicycle racing? The guys discuss the ongoing trends in professional and participatory cycling, and try to read the tea leaves for what it means for the sport. All that and more on today's episode of The VeloNews Podcast.