In his latest column for Velo, Michael Woods dives into Levi\u2019s Gran Fondo and how cycling needs to let go of its path to find a sustainable way forward.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou are doing the doper\u2019s race?\u201d a friend of mine said to me at Sea Otter when I told him I would be participating in Levi\u2019s Gran Fondo.<\/p>\n I could feel his self-righteousness radiating through the air. I know many guys around my age, and older, who hold real animosity toward much of the generation that raced in Europe from the late 1990s to the end of the first decade of this century, and I could sense that he was disappointed.<\/p>\n I am proud that I raced clean throughout my entire career. I am a staunch supporter of clean sport, and I believe that, in this era of cycling, where there is a strong anti-doping system \u2014 without widespread systemic doping programs, and a culture in which leaders on most teams actively promote clean sport \u2014 if you are caught intentionally cheating, you should be banned from all facets of the sport for life.<\/p>\n However, I am not so arrogant as to think that I am a better person than much of the generation of riders who raced before me. I was incredibly fortunate to have entered pro cycling at the age of 29. My prefrontal cortex was fully formed, and the sport was far, far cleaner. I also consider myself lucky to have come into cycling so late; had I started on a more traditional path and entered the WorldTour at 19, it would have been 2005.<\/p>\n Depending on which team I signed with, my life could have been very different. The sport was a cesspool then, and I was, like most 19-year-old \u201cmen,\u201d pretty stupid. At 29, I had the capacity to think for myself and even tell people whom I respected \u201cno.\u201d At 19, I can\u2019t say whether I would have had the capacity or the courage to question if all the people I grew up idolizing \u2014 and all the people managing the teams I desperately wanted to be on \u2014 advised me to use a certain \u201cproduct\u201d to improve my \u201chealth.\u201d<\/p>\n I don\u2019t envy pro cyclists from that era, and I said as much to Levi Leipheimer as we cruised through the vineyards of Sonoma a few days later. Many of those riders faced the choice of either doping or watching their careers disappear.<\/p>\n There were many terrible people involved in cycling during much of the late 1990s and early 2000s, but there were also many young men who simply made a bad decision that most of us would likely make given the same circumstances.<\/p>\n In Stanley Milgram\u2019s obedience experiments in the 1960s, over 65 percent of people obeyed an authority\u2019s order to administer a seemingly fatal shock to another person.<\/p>\n Should we expect a group of 20- to 25-year-old cyclists to act any differently when somebody they have likely deified advises them to dope?<\/p>\n What defines a hero is someone who defies those odds, speaks truth to power, and truly stands up for what they believe, regardless of the consequences.<\/p>\n There were riders who did that.<\/p>\n I know some of them, and I feel very lucky to have had them as mentors. I can also understand their disdain for those who did not do the same.<\/p>\n However, unless you were faced with a similar set of circumstances \u2014 I wasn\u2019t \u2014 it\u2019s hard for me to judge a guy who once doped during that terrible time, got caught, testified against other dopers, served a ban, and then retired unceremoniously after his ban.<\/p>\n Levi Leipheimer falls into this category for me. Does boycotting his event, one that offers the biggest prize purse in North America, takes place in one of the most beautiful areas in the country, and attempts to preserve the side of the sport that I love make sense?<\/p>\n No. Some grudges aren\u2019t worth holding when good vino and good riding are available.<\/p>\n I mean, Alejandro Valverde doped, served a ban, came back, and outsprinted me to win the world championships, but if he told me that I could come out to Murcia, drink fine Spanish reds, and race a super cool hilly course that paid the winner $25,000, I would probably show up.<\/p>\n So, as they say, \u201cwhen in Rome, do as the Romans do.\u201d I assume this means that when in Sonoma County, one must drink copious amounts of wine.<\/p>\n My consumption of Chardonnay this past week increased by approximately 1000 percent, and as I fly back to Europe for my next gravel race at the Traka 200, my gut and wallet feel as if they just spent a week in the epicenter of American winemaking.<\/p>\n The past two weeks have been a whirlwind tour of what California has to offer in the worlds of cycling, viniculture, and gastronomy, and damn, I am glad I came.<\/p>\n I have mentioned this in several blogs now, but one of my objectives for this season is to open my mind, eyes, and heart to the environments in which I race.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a stark contrast to the way I have lived for the better part of a decade, and so far, doing so has made this year far more enjoyable than I could have foreseen.<\/p>\n My only concern regarding this outlook has been that it might impact my performance in my races, and up until Levi\u2019s Gran Fondo this past Saturday, the data seemed to support that concern.<\/p>\n At my opening race in Santa Val, I placed 41st; at Pierra Menta, 107th; and at the Sea Otter Cycling Classic, I finished 39th\u2014results that would hardly garner me a pro deal at a bike shop, let alone a free pair of glasses for some Instagram posts.<\/p>\n Up until Levi\u2019s Gran Fondo, I had resigned myself to accepting that even if this approach meant my results would suffer, going back to a state where my entire existence was devoted to perfecting cycling would not be an option.<\/p>\n In the pursuit of being the greatest cyclist I could possibly be, I passed up some pretty incredible opportunities.<\/p>\n I still remember that after I won a stage of the Tour in 2023, the following day we stayed at a beautiful vineyard in the Clermont-Ferrand region. As the staff and management enjoyed a meal bathed in the late evening sun of July, under a pergola, listening to the chirping of birds and the hiss of cicadas while drinking the region\u2019s finest wine, I walked past them to the team food truck.<\/p>\n Under the glare of a fluorescent light and listening to the hum of a gas generator, I proceeded to wolf down half a kilo of white rice and plain chicken.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t share this to inspire sympathy (I was pursuing something great; I wanted it, and the discipline I exerted afforded me far more opportunities than I would have had if I hadn\u2019t abstained from a lot of that fun). However, as I walked past the staff that evening, I promised myself that I would not pass up opportunities like this in the pursuit of my sport for much longer.<\/p>\n In retrospect, there were moments when I should have cooled my jets.<\/p>\n There were times when, instead of abstaining from having a glass of vino post-race or saying no to the tiramisu being rolled out in front of me, I should have indulged a bit more.<\/p>\n Focus and devotion, as a cyclist, are essential, but I must admit that in my insatiable desire to ride my bike fast, I wasn\u2019t great at stepping back and enjoying the fruits of my labor. I was also so focused on the process that often I couldn\u2019t even tell you where I was.<\/p>\n As Canadians say, this left me \u201cgripping the stick too tight.\u201d<\/p>\n There are races that I lost and crashes that I experienced that were a direct result of wanting something too badly or trying too hard. To this day, I don\u2019t think it is a coincidence that the best grand tour I ever rode was one where I had the most fun.<\/p>\n In 2020, I took part in the \u201cCOVID Vuelta.\u201d There were so many circumstances that helped relieve the consistent pressure I would normally place upon myself.<\/p>\n I was leaving EF at the end of the race, I had already had a relatively successful fall campaign, I knew I was in good shape, and we were all pretty confident that the race would not make it past the first few days, let alone finish.<\/p>\n It was a unique race, and seemingly the moment we left each finishing town, the entire region would return to lockdown. Yet, there were several other factors that made this grand tour unique. When we arrived, our director Juan Manuel Garate (Juanma) had all the staff and riders eat in the same room on the first night.<\/p>\n Riders weren\u2019t allowed to eat the standard rice, pasta, and chicken. We were staying at a very nice hotel in Irun, just a few minutes from Juanma\u2019s house, and he insisted that everyone eat a traditional Basque meal together.<\/p>\n He wanted us to get a feel for the land we were about to race in, and I still remember that, post-dinner, most of the team and staff proceeded to go for a walk outside and take in the atmosphere of the town.<\/p>\n With the severity of lockdown still lingering in our systems, we strolled along the cobbled streets, relishing the fact that people were out again, eating pintxos, drinking beers, and socializing.<\/p>\n At the race, Magnus Cort, Hugh Carthy, and I all won stages, and Hugh not only won on the iconic Angliru but came in third overall. We were firing as a team, and when we weren\u2019t racing like killers, Tejay Van Garderen was regaling us with war stories at the dinner table, while Mitch Docker led games of Uno and played bangers on the team bus.<\/p>\n We had a lot of fun, and that fun translated into results. If I could go back in my career, having just experienced the week that I had, I would counsel myself to try to tap into that 2020 Vuelta more often.<\/p>\n Now, I may have indulged a bit too much this past week. With Elly joining me for the second half of the trip, our kids at home with my parents in Andorra, and a two-night reservation at Timber Cove Resort on the Sonoma coast, optimizing my performance at Levi\u2019s Gran Fondo wasn\u2019t necessarily my top priority.<\/p>\n However, I came to Levi\u2019s Gran Fondo for two reasons: one, because the 220km, 4500m+ elevation course offered up a cool $25,000 for the winner, and two, to see if Levi\u2019s model was a viable alternative for preserving and perhaps reviving road cycling in America.<\/p>\n Offering over $100,000 in prize money between the elite women\u2019s and men\u2019s fields, Levi, with the help of Skipstone Winery, aimed to attract the best road racers in North America to take part in the 17th edition of one of America\u2019s most successful gran fondos.<\/p>\n The prize purse seemed to work. Riders like hometown hero and recent Paris-Nice stage winner Luke Lamperti showed up, along with two-time winner Keegan Swenson and former WorldTour riders Alexey Vermeulen and Pete Stetina.<\/p>\n For a race in North America, the field was far more in line with a high-level domestic race from a decade earlier than much of the recent road racing on this continent.<\/p>\n With a livestream, top commentators like Hannah Walker, and a proper race atmosphere, this fondo did have an air of professionalism.<\/p>\n Is this the event that will save American road racing? No. Levi said to me as much as we chatted on a serene afternoon, on a patio at the Skipstone Vineyard overlooking the Sonoma Valley, \u201cWe are just trying to do our own thing here as best we can,\u201d he said when I asked him this question.<\/p>\n But, is this model the way forward for the sport in North America, and maybe even Europe? Quite possibly.<\/p>\n Having attended Sea Otter the week before, it was evident to me that the way forward for cycling in America was, and is, the Gran Fondo model. In the 1980s, distance running recognized this, and today the marathon, compared to all other running disciplines, is easily the most lucrative.<\/p>\n While track meets struggle \u2014 Michael Johnson\u2019s Grand Slam Track is just the most recent demonstration of this \u2014 major marathons are flourishing. They offer large prize purses, high appearance fees, and shoe companies pay decent wages to their best athletes. This is all supported by tens of thousands of people participating in these participant-focused events.<\/p>\n The events themselves have a significant impact on their local economies; the NY Marathon estimates that in 2024, their event will generate roughly $692 million in economic impact.<\/p>\n Levi\u2019s Gran Fondo didn\u2019t have the 30,000+ participants that the major marathons do, but it was easy to see the positive impact that the event had on the local economy. Unlike a peloton of cheap pros, a Gran Fondo attracts people who have the means to buy a $10,000+ bike, and every time I went into a high-end restaurant in Healdsburg or Windsor in the days leading up to the event, I saw people wearing technical socks and walking as if they had just gotten off the saddle.<\/p>\n Aside from a few drivers, the community was clearly happy about this.<\/p>\n Levi\u2019s Gran Fondo is a treat to race. When I went out for my first recon, I was blown away by the entire region. Having ridden throughout much of the U.S. and spent the past week in Monterey, I was expecting big roads, lots of traffic, and a longing to be back riding in Europe.<\/p>\n Instead, each ride I did pre-race was stunning. The roads twisted and turned, dipping into thick forests of massive redwoods and trees covered in bright green moss. The climbs were unique, taking me up to vistas overlooking Lake Sonoma, the vineyard-filled valleys below, and even views of the Pacific coast to the west.<\/p>\n From our hotel balcony in Timber Cove, we saw whales breaching and seals surfing in the waves along the rugged shores.<\/p>\n Lining up for the race, it dawned on me that the last road race I had done was the Tour de France. Not since I had rolled along the cobbles of the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es had I raced on a road bike.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t have been in a more different mental state. At the Tour, I was doing a job; at this race, I was having fun. Even though I had been pummeled the week before at the Sea Otter Classic by effectively the same field, I was feeling far more confident.<\/p>\n Gravel racing and road racing are two different disciplines. To some, this may seem obvious, but to a guy who has raced in the WorldTour, I really thought they were interchangeable until this past weekend.<\/p>\n In my eyes, if road racing is chess, then gravel is checkers. In the gravel races I have done, due to the increased rolling resistance, the draft is far less important. This means that tactics (there are still a fair amount) are less relevant.<\/p>\n If you are fit, choose the right equipment, and have decent technical skills, you will do well. In road cycling, this isn\u2019t the case, and this is why I love the road.<\/p>\n Watching Keegan Swenson, Mathew Beers, and some of the best gravel racers on the current circuit race on the road highlighted why road racing is far more tactically nuanced. From the outset of LGF, the two Specialized teammates took to the front on the opening climb and rode at a hard pace, immediately whittling the field down to 30 riders.<\/p>\n However, as I watched them do this, I thought, \u201cAm I missing something?\u201d They didn\u2019t attack; they didn\u2019t try to surprise the field or send one of them up the road to force others to chase. One would ride, and then the other would come over the top and ride just as hard. In some instances, I watched three to four strong gravel riders riding at the front at a hard pace.<\/p>\n This tactic works well in gravel, as you almost always end up on a technical section post-climb, and with the speeds being slower, the draft is less effective.<\/p>\n In road cycling, you would never see one of the pre-race favorites roll casually to the front at the base of a climb and set a moderately hard tempo. It\u2019s a waste.<\/p>\n However, climb after climb, Swenson and Beers, with the help of several other riders, would take the wind and drive the pace.<\/p>\n Watching them do this made me realize how instinctual road racing has become for me. Riding like this, effectively like a runner, has been completely beaten out of me. I cringe at the thought of how badly I would have been chewed out on the team bus or over the radio by my DS for doing this.<\/p>\n It also reminded me of how much better racing is without a race radio. With no director shouting in our ears, pinch points were less stressful, the peloton felt far safer, and a wise old dog like me could gain a greater advantage.<\/p>\n I could immediately see what the Specialized tactic was: \u201cWe are the strongest in the race, and we are going to ride this field down until we are the last ones left.\u201d This is what they seemed to convey with each pedal stroke they made.<\/p>\n This works in gravel; however, on the road, even Tadej Poga\u010dar doesn\u2019t use this tactic. If he is worried about bringing back a break and doesn\u2019t have any teammates left, he doesn\u2019t just go to the front and ride a moderate tempo. He attacks fully until not one rider can follow, and then he rides his tempo.<\/p>\n The road bike is just too efficient, and unlike all the gravel races I had done this season, after each effort, I could catch my breath and relish the draft provided by the gravel riders at the front. Furthermore, I didn\u2019t have to contribute in any way.<\/p>\n My Ventum teammate John Borstelmann had expertly infiltrated the break, so I could simply sit on and enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n I loved everything about this race. The smaller field, the lack of a race convoy, and the absence of radios all contributed to it feeling safer and more like a proper old-school bike race. Riders gave each other more space, there weren\u2019t any massive pileups, and the feed zones were civilized, as everyone seemed to slow down instead of speed up to grab their bottles.<\/p>\n With 50km left in the race, the breakaway still had three minutes on the field. With only one final climb left, if attacks didn\u2019t start coming from the group, then the break would survive. Several riders began to hit the front, but I could follow.<\/p>\n Luke Lamperti had told me earlier in the day that the final two kilometers of the last climb were the hardest, and when we hit that mark, I didn\u2019t think, I just attacked. I didn\u2019t look back; I just held the highest pace I could manage, and after a few minutes, I could only hear the shifting of gears from one bike behind me.<\/p>\n I looked under my arm, and there was only one rider left on my wheel. I got to taste that sensation I had back in my prime, and damn, did it feel good.<\/p>\n Marcis Shelton, a young local who had finished second to Swenson the year before, stuck with me, and as we crested a peak and descended to a final 2km kicker, we were joined by two other riders from the peloton who caught the breakaway in front of us. I pushed hard up the final kicker, and as we flew down the 10km twisty descent through the mist, with a camera bike on our wheels, I thought, \u201cDamn, I missed this.\u201d<\/p>\n The high of attacking and bridging to the break was short-lived, though. After completing the descent, we still had 20km left to ride. The group worked well together, but as I took each relay at the front, I began to feel the lack of long training hours in my legs.<\/p>\n I realized that I was probably the weakest guy left in the group, so I pulled out every trick in the book in those final kilometers. Encouraging everyone, I said to each rider after his pull, \u201cLet\u2019s work together now; we can play games with 3km to go!\u201d and, \u201cKeep the pulls smooth; we\u2019ve got this!\u201d I said this knowing that if someone actually attacked, I would probably be the first to be dropped.<\/p>\n My legs were coming apart fast, and I was almost dropped on a final short kicker with 10km to go. Going into the final sprint, I knew I would have to win the corner with 100m left in the race, but when I stood up to sprint, I felt like I was standing on wet noodles.<\/p>\n I sprinted in a group of six riders for the win and finished sixth \u2014 my palm is still firmly placed on my face \u2014 and many wheels back from the $25,000 winning prize awarded to Shelton for his fine kick. I still received one of the biggest checks I have ever gotten for finishing sixth, but that sprint was pretty embarrassing.<\/p>\n Regardless, I came out of this race with far more optimism, joy, and confidence, not just in my riding, but for the sport itself.<\/p>\n This was a cool event, and you didn\u2019t have to be a WorldTour Pro to feel like you were doing something epic. Cresting over foggy peaks and going toe to toe with other riders was something afforded not just to me, but to the numerous other participants in the event.<\/p>\n The post-race atmosphere, filled with free burritos and Indian food, was a blast, and when I had dinner that night with a good friend of mine and participant in the event, Kevin Ham, at a beautiful restaurant overlooking Napa Valley, he and his wife had just as many war stories from their ride.<\/p>\n Up next : The Traka.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/michael-woods-cycling-redemption-letting-go-past\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2169466794.jpg”] Michael Woods Updated May 4, 2026 05:27PM In his latest column for Velo, Michael Woods dives into Levi\u2019s Gran Fondo and how cycling needs to let go of its path to find a sustainable way forward. \u201cYou are doing the doper\u2019s race?\u201d a friend of mine said to me at Sea Otter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1917897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1917897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1917897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1917897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1917897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Not so quick to judge<\/h2>\n
Rediscovering the joy<\/h2>\n
Keeping a loose grip<\/h2>\n
A business model that works<\/h2>\n
Checkers and chess<\/h2>\n
The thrill of the chase<\/h2>\n