VN Podcast, ep. 286: Pete Stetina on the highs and lows of racing gravel

Pete Stetina left the world of pro racing to go gravel in 2020, opting for the freedom of a solitary project over the support and constraints of a WorldTour team. Then Covid hit and Stetina, like people the world over, had to adjust. Thus, this season was his first full year of racing gravel. On this podcast, he reflects on the highlights and lowlights of traveling the United States by van, engaging with the cycling world on social media, and how having one mid-race beer proved more popular than winning a big race. Stetina won 15 gravel races in 2021, with 10 one-day or overall wins and 5 stage victories. His season ran from Shasta Gravel on March 6 to Big Sugar on October 23. The 25,000 road miles took a toll on his van and his energy. But after some time off, he's raring to go again. Before we talk to Stetina, we check in with Jim Cotton in England, who gets us up to speed with World Cup cyclocross racing. The weekly VeloNews Podcast brings you inside bike racing, allowing you to hear from athletes, coaches, bike companies, and VeloNews' own team of journalists from around the world. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts.