Good Money, No Team Tactics and Cute Dogs: The Rise of Professional Cycling Freelancers | Ride a bike

For decades, professional cycling was dominated by European World Tour teams. But over the last decade, American gravel privateers have disrupted that paradigm.

“The World Tour is like the NFL or NBA,” says Peter Stetina, who rode for three different teams on the Tour, the highest level of professional road cycling, from 2010 to 2019. “You get selected and signed. You have a salary and your job is just to pedal, nothing else. Racing is breakneck, retiring is breakneck.”

In 2019, Stetina’s contract with Trek-Segafredo allowed him to take time off from the World Tour to try out three American gravel races. Seizing the opportunity, he won the BWR and came second in Unbound (then called Dirty Kanza), the most prestigious gravel race in the world. However, taking part in these races strained his relationship with team leaders, who wanted him to concentrate on racing in Europe.

“My superiors weren’t happy, but the recognition I got was incredible,” says Stetina, who found herself at a crossroads. At the end of the season, he decided to leave the World Tour and switch to gravel full-time because his professional career and the associated financial opportunities attracted him to the agency.

Gravel bike racing is anything off-paved, including a wide range of distances and surfaces, from 200 miles on dirt roads to a few dozen miles on singletrack. Gravel bikes look similar to their road cousins, with wider tires and more relaxed geometries, making them easier to control on technical terrain.

Over the last decade, gravel racing has exploded in the United States, while road cycling has moved in the opposite direction. Since its peak during the Armstrong era in the early 2000s, American cycling has been in a slow and steady decline, undermined by drug scandals and the increasing threat of distracted car and truck drivers. Due to declining participation, major events such as the Tour of California and the Tour of Utah were discontinued. Overseas, only 15 Americans are represented on the 18 World Tour teams, the lowest number since 2008.

While road riding has been in the doldrums, gravel has filled the void, reinforced by the likes of Stetina. These riders, called privateers, are essentially one-person teams with the autonomy to choose their sponsors and schedule. The private model stands in stark contrast to the rigidity of the World Tour, where team managers decide everything for riders, including team roles, races and salaries.

Already on the rise in 2020, gravel has boomed in the years following the pandemic because it offers an escape from everyday life and a safe way out. Gravel bike sales doubled in 2020 and again in 2021. Three years later, the gravel bike market continues to grow rapidly. Strava data shows gravel rides increased 55% in 2023, the fastest increase in activity on the app.

During the same period, the sport’s pinnacle has solidified around the LifeTime Grand Prix, a seven-race series considered the premier off-road circuit in the world. The Grand Prix attracts a mix of riders and offers $300,000 in prize money split between the top ten men and women. The elite field is a mix of former World Tour, cyclocross and professional mountain bikers as well as newcomers from the junior level.

While road and gravel bikes look similar, their cultures are fundamentally different. Road is synonymous with Lycra, thin tires and deep tradition. The sport’s flagships – the five Monuments and three Grand Tours – are deeply rooted in European history. Gravel, on the other hand, is new, unorthodox and exploratory, making it perfect for the USA, a country where a quarter of the roads are unpaved and rarely traveled.

“Road cycling is a traditional sport,” says Payson McElveen, a two-time national mountain bike champion and third in the Grand Prix standings. “It all comes down to the World Tour teams, who have been doing the same thing for decades, like how they market their athletes. In gravel racing, team tactics are prohibited, which opens the door for more creativity and storytelling.”

“As a privateer, I have the freedom to express myself and take on projects that excite me,” says McElveen, who has built a large community around his podcast “The Adventure Stache” and a series of adventure films, with his main sponsors including Red Bull. “ Athletes are supposed to inspire, and that doesn’t just apply on race day. Your passion and enthusiasm are a huge part of your career.”

However, privatization presents a unique set of challenges. Drivers must be organized, logistically savvy and able to build good relationships. Without a team manager, they all have to plan their travel, manage social media, negotiate contracts, hire mechanics, meet sponsorship obligations, all while maintaining a rigorous training schedule.

“It’s a constant game of prioritization,” says Stetina, “and the biggest challenge is time management.” Juggling responsibilities isn’t for everyone, but more and more drivers are avoiding teams because of the freedom that private driving brings – and the Opportunity to earn more money.

“I would be lying if I said that compensation doesn’t play a big role,” says McElveen. “Unlike the World Tour, there is no cap on what you can earn.” McElveen estimates that around half of the 60 Grand Prix drivers are private drivers who have varying degrees of success.

Alexey Vermeulen, who rode for LottoNL-Jumbo (now Visma-Lease a Bike) at the beginning of his career, now earns a six-figure sum as a private rider, significantly more than on the World Tour. At 15, Vermeulen moved to Europe to pursue his dream of racing in the professional peloton. He was on track to become America’s next great driver in the standings, but was released in 2019 due to his own team policy. Instead of looking for a new World Tour team, Vermeulen turned to gravel racing.

In his first season, Vermeulen barely broke even despite living rent-free with his parents. “Getting started is a challenge. “It’s a big bet on yourself,” says Vermeulen, who fought for sponsorship from big brands for two seasons. The risk ultimately paid off as Vermeulen finished second overall in both 2022 and 2023 and has had the same group of main sponsors for four years.

“I miss the history and romance of the World Tour, but my personality is better suited to private riding. I have obsessive-compulsive disorder when it comes to lists, I’m sociable and I’m good at telling stories,” says Vermeulen, who sees himself more as an entrepreneur than a cyclist. Winning races is only part of the formula. “The biggest challenge is balancing films and projects with consistent training.”

Vermeulen produces a popular YouTube series featuring his dog, Sir Willie the Wiener, riding on his back. Clips of Vermeulen and Willie went viral on social media, helping him – and his main sponsors – gain more visibility in the industry. “As a driver, you are not just a billboard or a race result. It’s a collaboration between you and the brand to tell a real story.”

Sarah Sturm, a two-time cyclocross national champion, found early success when she switched to gravel racing. After her cyclocross team failed in 2018, she won her first race, the BWR. This victory and two more podium finishes in her first season gave Sturm a rapid rise to gravel stardom.

“When I saw the amount of sponsorship offers that came in after the BWR win, I realized it was a whole different ball game,” says Sturm. “The sport has grown a lot since then, but it is still the Wild West of cycling. There is a lot of freedom and a lot of money, but you also have to manage everything yourself.”

Sturm finished third overall in 2022 and fourth in 2023, but says most of her personal brand was built on the bike. Thanks to her background in marketing, she quickly learned the business side of private sports and built an impressive client base that made her one of the highest-earning athletes in the sport.

“If you don’t win every race by far, you need more than just results,” says Sturm. “Brands don’t care if you come second, fifth or tenth. What matters is your personality. You have to be good at selling yourself.”

Sturm has appeared in films, articles, panels and at major events, making her one of the most recognizable faces in the sport. She says this is what makes a successful privateer driver and estimates that about 15 drivers have single-handedly made significant money in the Grand Prix.

“I don’t have an agent because it doesn’t work for me,” says Sturm, who believes the constant emails and face-to-face contact with brands pays off in the long run. “I learned a lot from others like Pete, Payson and Alexey. We all talk a lot behind the scenes, especially about the business side.”

Although he may seem individualistic, almost every privateer has a large support network. “The privateer model is new in cycling, but it has been around for a long time in sports like golf and surfing,” says Hannah Otto, a Tokyo Olympian and mountain bike World Cup champion who spent nine years on various teams before becoming a privateer in 2022. “ The real secret is having the right team behind you.”

“People would be shocked if they saw my taxes and knew how many people I hire just to race,” says Otto, who has a trainer, a sports psychologist, a physical therapist, a nutritionist, an agent, an accountant and paid a mechanic to support her career. “This allows me to concentrate on my strengths. For example, my agent handles negotiations and invoicing, so I can focus on big ideas and creating value for my sponsors.”

After winning the Leadville 100, one of the most prestigious off-road races in the United States, Otto’s earnings quickly increased. “Winning a big race changes the math,” says Otto. “I now earn much more than in a factory team and feel more secure than ever before. My salary varies across many brands, but if you’re on a team and the team has a bad year, that has huge consequences.”

On a macro level, privateers are a perfect fit for the product market in America. The European way of doing business does not work in a country based on entrepreneurial, creative and individual ethos. Until recently, American cycling had lost track. Private riders have reignited the country’s love of cycling.

“The world is watching American cycling more closely than it has in decades,” says McElveen. “Even in Europe, drivers talk about the Grand Prix. Everyone knows about gravel and is excited to see if privateers will have an impact on other parts of the sport, like the World Tour.”