I’ve watched more road racing the past four weeks than I have in my entire life. For once, the men’s and women’s Tour de France aligned with my training and race calendar, and I found myself looking forward to watching the replay of the stages and avoiding my phone every morning since early July.
The juxtaposition of training for and racing gravel races with watching the world’s biggest road races has been the source of endless entertainment. When I see jerseys with only one or two gels. When a team car appears at a flick of a wrist to deliver a new wheel or an entire bike. When the bikes only have one cute little water bottle. When I realised tour stages are just five hours long at most. But then I see the terrifying, 80kph descents in a peloton in the rain, and remember us gravel racers don’t have it so bad. I’ll carry 100 ounces of water and thousands of grams of carbs and shut my mouth.
Well, the answer is already yes. We have seen both men and women utilise the help of a teammate or two at some of the biggest races. I’m looking at you, Tobin and Keegan. The htSQD duo (did I miss any vowels?) has famously pulled the ole shake ‘n’ bake manoeuvre at a few big races. There have been some infamous male/female pairs too, but let’s not open that can of worms. On the women’s side, I was a part of some “team” tactics at Unbound last year where I led out a fellow Specialized rider, Geerike Schreurs, for the sprint finish. So, domestique-ing is already hitting the dirt, but it looks a bit different.
We’re used to seeing the colourful masses of individual jerseys on gravel start lines. Occasionally there is a team of two or three riders, but nothing like road racing where there are established teams with dozens of riders on a roster. But even in gravel racing, working together for a common goal can be advantageous, and alliances can be forged however one sees fit, though usefully it’s because of a shared sponsor.
For example, at Unbound 2024, Specialized was the link that brought a team of four of us together. If we opted into working together, if one of us won, we would get a bonus. We each opted in for a common goal of getting one of us across the line first. It was both casual and official, getting a little complicated as two of us were in the final nine-woman sprint for the win. Ultimately, we had a very abbreviated “who has a better sprint” conversation 5 miles out from the line and I did my best interpretation of a leadout for a successful second place finish.
This year, my fellow (female) Rapha teammates and I were in it together. We entered the race with an even more vague idea of what supporting each other could look like. Maude Farrell and I, riding for different bike brands, decided that if we were in the selection together after the first feedzone that she would work for me. This was her own choice; there was no pressure put on her by myself or the brand. It was just a way she could race for a bit more than personal gain, for some riders it can add extra motivation or even eliminate nerves. It’s a delicate process as gravel is still an individual sport, especially Unbound. Where if won, it can make someone’s career. Even if you have an established career, it’s hard to give up a personal result for the win for a team, even if payout is involved. I can attest to that!
This begs the question, would a domestique or team help win gravel races? It’s one thing to go into a race with a plan, it’s another thing to make it work.
Still, having a strong team of riders around you can offer some strategic benefits. Being a great teammate isn’t just about providing a draft or chasing down attacks; you can be the mobile bike shop too. In road racing we sometimes see teammates sacrificing their own trusted steeds to their team leaders when disaster strikes. However, there is a rule against doing that in most gravel races. At Unbound for example, riders can share mechanical parts, wheels or offer their own assistance, but every rider must finish on the same frame they start on.
Spare parts aside, team tactics can make for some interesting racing. During this year’s Unbound 200, the PAS team (another group of women with various sponsors and one shared kit sponsor) had two women in the lead group of 3 as well as a few riders in the chase group behind. They would send texts to their teammates, giving insight on how motivated the group was in chasing them down. Essentially, they were using their phones, which racers are required to carry at Unbound for safety, as race radios. Pretty clever really, because like everything in life, communication is key.
I’m certain we’re going to see more collaboration in the coming years. And the concept of the gravel domestique will look different between privateers and teams. When it comes to the privateer sector, cross-team collaboration opens up more potential for athletes working together in unexpected ways. Whereas riders on factory teams like Specialized Off-Road, would be more predictable when it comes to road coded dynamics. Riders in matching kit usually tend to work together, the shared goal of a win and the bonus behind that achievement is simple and clean.
How it’s done, that is something that will develop organically. We see rules changing and adapting, we see athletes innovating and organising, and the discipline is still very much growing.
Right now, our fields simply aren’t deep enough yet for domestiques and road strategies to really work. The strongest men and women, racing for the bigger brands, are often hard to support when it counts later in the races. The events are so demanding, so challenging, that often it’s more about attrition than tactics and team support. That’s not to say team tactics don’t come into play at these races, because they do, they just don’t often affect the final result.
Personally, I look forward to the arrival of domestiques and team tactics. I think it will be great for the sport because at the end of the day that just means that there will be more support coming in and more riders are able to make a living. It’s just a process and we’re in the middle of it now.
