US junior ITT champion Gray Barnett uses 'good kick', maturity to excel on and off the bike

Gray Barnett is an enterprising 17-year-old. Now in his third season with the EF Education-ONTO development squad, Barnett has demonstrated maturity on and off the bike - even when he was home in Greenville, South Carolina and his bike went 'missing' 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometres) away in Brussels, Belgium.

Barnett is the reigning US men's 15-16 junior time trial national champion. In 2023 at junior road nationals, he also scored top 10s in the road race and criterium, those events won by his teammates - Enzo Hincapie in the road race and Peyton Burkel in the criterium.

"His time as a 16-year-old would have been second place in the 17-18 bracket if he was competing against those guys at Nationals. So we're very excited about Gray. He's a stunning talent," the team's director Rusty Miller told Cyclingnews.

"Gray is a true all-rounder who can climb, time trial and sprint among the best. But what sets him apart from riders his age is a certain maturity and attention to detail.  When it comes to loading the van, for example, or cleaning up after a team dinner, I can count on him to be a leader."

Growing up in the steep, forested foothills south of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Barnett is not just a time trial rider. In 2022 he won the category 3 division of the Carter County Omnium road race in Virginia, known as the Roan Groan, that featured 7,020 feet of elevation gain over 55 miles. He was part of the 2023 squad that won the overall at the U17 Tour de l'Ain in France, finishing third on GC himself, and also finished second in the amateur finals at Athens Twilight Criterium.

Earlier this month, he won the GC title at the three-day La Primavera in Lago Vista, Texas, the third of six stops on the USA Juniors Cup series, and was named to Team USA's squad to race Paris-Roubaix Juniors. Cyclingnews caught up with Barnett to discover how bikes became a big part of his life, what he thought about the international attention on CNN and his aspirations to ride like Tadej Pogačar.

Cyclingnews: Have you always been interested in riding bikes as a young child, or were you into other sports?

Gray Barnett: Growing up I played soccer for nine years. I started cycling when I was around 8 years old.

CN: Tell us a little about your family and what you like to do off the bike in Greenville.

GB: I live with my parents and younger sister Lucy. They also all love to exercise, my sister runs cross country, my dad also runs, and my mom is in the gym almost every day. When I'm not riding I really enjoy cooking, especially for my family. In my spare time I also work at my local bike shop, Greenville Bike and Tri. I like to hang out with my teammates when they are here, and there is also a great community of cyclists similar to my age around Greenville. So I spend a lot of time with them.

CN: Your first full season of road racing was just three years ago. How did you get involved with racing bikes? 

GB: When I was in the 6th grade, I started racing mountain bikes. During COVID I picked up road riding, and in 2021, I began racing, competing in my first National Championships.

CN: In your first US Road Nationals you earned silver medals in all three men’s junior 13-14 events, a significant outcome. Tell us about that experience.

GB: It was an amazing experience. Coming in with no expectations, as it was my first nationals, and being able to achieve the results I did, I was shocked! It really motivated me to see how far I could take the sport from that period and forward.

CN: What was it like to win the national jersey this past summer as the men's junior 15-16 ITT champion? 

GB: It was awesome! I put a lot of work into time trialling all year, so it was super rewarding when it all came together.

CN: Your EF Education-ONTO teammates won the junior 15-16 road (Enzo Hincapie) and criterium (Peyton Burkel) titles, so it was a team sweep. How special was that, and did you all celebrate in Roanoke?

GB: That made nationals really special, we are all really close, and just being able to help each other succeed was amazing. We were all so happy for each other. To be honest, we didn't really celebrate much as we all had to travel home and then fly out to race Tour of America’s Dairyland [in southern Wisconsin] a couple of days after nationals.

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CN: In 2022 you were third, and 2023 you were second in the amateur finals at the Athens Twilight Crit. Do you consider those top crit results because of the field, or the huge crowds? 

GB: Athens Twilight is a race that's special to me. I had great results there that definitely stand out because of the atmosphere. I also have family in Athens, and being able to perform in front of them is super cool!

CN: In road racing, what terrain do you prefer?

GB: I prefer hilly stages. My time trialling ability helps me make the selections but I also have a strong kick which makes hilly races really exciting to race.

CN: Where do you want to improve the most with road racing?

GB: I would say I want to improve the most on sprinting, tactics and power. I feel like races nowadays, even the mountain stages, are coming down to reduced bunch sprints. So being able to have a good kick and time it right is super important in my opinion.

CN: What are your race targets in 2024 for EF Education-ONTO? 

GB: I’m super excited to be with EF again for the year. This will be my third year with Rusty as my director, and I'm super excited to race with all my teammates. We have a great group of guys. This year I’m really looking forward to racing Tour du Valromey. It's one of the hardest races in the world, so I'm super excited for that. It's also got a Team Time Trial which I've never raced before, so looking forward to that!

CN: You got global publicity outside of bike racing when CNN reported on how a tracking device on your bike bag helped you recover your racing bike from the airport in Brussels that two airlines could not find. It took multiple emails, telephone calls and online forms across a week to recover the bike. So is travel another ‘job’ for you to get to/from races and do you enjoy it? 

GB: That was a pretty frustrating experience, being able to know where my bike was, but not being able to do anything about it was hard. But I also understand a lot of things are out of my control during air travel. Travel is most of the time super smooth and enjoyable, but it definitely has its stressful moments.

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CN: What have been your favorite places to race in Europe so far?

GB: My favorite European race so far has been the Tour de L’Ain in France. It was a beautiful area and a super fun race. I also got third on the GC there, which made it even more fun.

CN: Who are the current road pros which are role models for you, and what do you like about their riding styles the most? 

GB: I would say my favorite current road pro is Tadej Pogačar. Not just because of his results, but also his personality. I really look up to the way he is all-in it for the fun of riding. I know he is super serious and puts in so much work, but he's also got a smile on his face and is super positive, which I think is really cool.

CN: In the next five years, what 3 races would you like to win?

GB: If I had to choose three big races to win in the next five years, they would be a professional national title in the time trial or road race, a world championship, and also Strade Bianche.

CN: So the gravel at Strade Bianche would be a welcome surface, since you won the men’s overall at Race to Valhalla on gravel in South Carolina. Do you enjoy the endurance part or just being off-road?

GB: I don’t ride too much gravel, but whenever I can race it I do. They are usually longer races, which I like. I also really enjoy the technical aspect of gravel. Coming from a mountain bike background helps with that.

CN: If you had only ONE bike to ride on an off day, which one would it be? 

GB: I think I would choose my TT bike on a rest day. Sometimes road bikes can get boring on easy days, but on the TT bike, you can work on the muscles you need, to hold shrugged shoulders in time trials.