2 Gravel Pros Attacked the World’s Longest Paved Climb on the Same Day by Coincidence. Only 1 Took the KOM.

Right now it’s cold and miserable for a large part of the northern hemisphere, but Alex Wild and Pete Stetina were just throwing down in Maui. After nearly 2.5 hours and 10,000 ft. of climbing, Wild bested Stetina by just 7 seconds.

Are you wondering if this is some gravel race you forgot to pay attention to?

No, there was no official race happening, but this result might set the stage for the season ahead. Right now, Stetina and Wild are both in Hawaii putting in training miles, and they both happened to have the same idea on the same day.

On January 15, both struck out separately to attempt the fastest time up the Haleakala segment in Maui. This is a segment that is arguably the longest paved climb in the world (El Sifón in Colombia can also make this claim depending on your interpretation) and has been attempted over 13,000 times by more than 7,500 people. The grade is a continuous 5.8% average covering 34.16 miles and 9,828 ft.

The two athletes did not coordinate this attempt. The fact that it happened on the same day is a complete coincidence. Wild stated that “since training for the season is still top priority, I had one day to make it happen.” Stetina meanwhile said he “saw some favorable conditions, and decided to finally give Haleakalā a proper crack.” It was only as Wild was descending that he saw Stetina. At the time, he had no inkling what Stetina was attempting, stating that “he looked so calm I didn’t think it was an attempt.”

This is a hotly contested segment, so that coincidence is perhaps not as shocking as you might imagine. The climb re-entered the news cycle back in January 2025 when Phil Gaimon gave it his typical “Worst Retirement Ever” treatment and snagged the title by 28 seconds over the previous best set by Drake Deuel. Then, not one to shy from a challenge, Deuel attacked it in December 2025 and retook the title by 16 seconds. Deuel also documented the effort, but his claim only lasted 37 days.

As of January 15, the new time to beat is 2:22:57. Stetina did beat the record set by Deuel that day, but what he didn’t know at the time was he was still 7 seconds short of the new time Wild had just set.

Of course, 7 seconds is nothing. It secures bragging rights for Wild, but the real story is how competitive these two gravel racers are as we head into the season. It’s January, and even as Stetina prepares for his retirement season, he’s showing top form against the younger Wild. There are still a few months before the two really go head-to-head, but it’s certainly looking to be an exciting year.